The train journey between Dibrugarh and Delhi will be shorter by three hours come year-end, when the railways plans to commission its longest rail-cum-road bridge at Bogibeel in Assam.
Currently, the journey via Guwahati takes around 37 hours. With the 4.94-km-long bridge in place, the journey via Rangia, the regional divisional headquarters of the North East Frontier Railway, the time will be reduced by three hours.
"With the new bridge, new trains will be introduced, which will shorten the journey time. There are difficulties in changing the routes of the existing trains. Thus, we plan to introduce new trains," a senior railway official said.
The bridge will connect eastern Arunachal Pradesh to Upper Assam by cutting down the current distance substantially.
"Instead of going via Tejpur, people can take the bridge. Also, with the bridge, buses will be introduced, autorickshaws and other modes of transport will also thrive. One has to take the ferry now, which takes an hour to cross and that too, shuts at 4 pm every day. The ferry service is also irregular during the monsoon," the official said.
The cost of taking the ferry is Rs 120 per person and ferrying a car costs anywhere between Rs 1,000 and Rs 3,000 for the hour-long journey, the locals said.
With the Bogibeel bridge, it will take around five minutes.
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While all the civil work for the bridge would be completed by July, two more months would be needed to finish the electrical and signalling work, Mahender Singh, the chief engineer of the project, said.
By the year-end, the bridge is likely to be ready, officials said, adding that it will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The bridge, the second longest in Asia, will have three-lane roads on top and a double-line railway track below.