Manipur: 90 per cent work of Jiribam-Imphal new railway line completed, say sources

Around 90 per cent work of Jiribam-Imphal's new railway line has been completed and Manipur capital is expected to come onto the India Railways network by December 2023, said sources 

As per sources, with this, Imphal will be the fourth capital city in the northeastern region to have a rail link.

The sources further claimed that the Indian Railways is constantly striving to expand rail connectivity in the country and in this regard, the work of expansion of rail connectivity is also being carried out on a war footing in the northeastern states.

A 111 km long rail line is being laid from Jiribam to the state capital Imphal for which several tunnels, bridges, and railway stations are being constructed. 

''Out of 52 tunnels, the construction of 48 tunnels has been completed,'' the sources claimed.

It is worth mentioning that the Rs 14,322 crore, 110-km-long Jibiram-Imphal railway line is targeted to be completed by December 2023.

In the making of this railway line, vertical shaft construction technology has been adopted for the first time in the history of NFR for these complex tunneling works. 

Interestingly, this technology is used only in metro rail projects.

After the completion of the under-construction railway project, the present road journey time of about 10 hours to reach Imphal from Jiribam will be reduced to 2.5 hours.

The railway project after completion will facilitate the receiving of essential commodities faster by the state and help the state's local producers to export their products outside the state quicker.

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