Cabinet approves construction of Northeast Frontier Railway in Assam

The project will be completed by 2022-23 and will be executed by the Construction Organization of Northeast Frontier Railway.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to construct the New Bongaigaon and Agthori via Rangiya doubling (142.97 km) of Northeast Frontier Railway in Assam with an estimated cost of Rs. 2042.51 crore. The project will be completed by 2022-23 and will be executed by the Construction Organization of Northeast Frontier Railway.

The line capacity utilization of the section between New Bongaigaon and Agthori via Rangiya is more than 100%. Traffic on this section will further increase as Rangiya-Murkongselek Broad Gauge line has already been commissioned in 2015-16 and Bogibeel Bridge new line has been commissioned recently. To remove the existing capacity constraints of the existing network and to handle the increasing freight and passenger traffic, doubling of New Bongaigaon - Agthori via Rangiya is required. Overall operative performance of New Bongaigaon - Agthori via Rangiya will improve by the doubling and congestion of section will also reduce to the great extent.

The project will ease the growing through traffic into the North East region and saving due to faster mobility through the proposed double line section. This project will also generate direct employment during construction for about 34.31 lakh man-days.

The alignment for the approved doubling from New Bongaigaon to Agthori via Rangiya (142.97 km) will traverse through Bongaigaon, Baksa, Barpeta, Nalbari, and Kamrup districts of Assam.

(With Inputs from PIB)