New N-E Frontier railway line may open in January

By Our Special Correspondent

GUWAHATI, AUG. 25. Taking a trolley ride on a virgin railway track yet to be opened to passenger traffic is an exciting experience, the more so if it runs through lush paddy fields, forests and stretches of undulating rocky land.

The Northeast Frontier Railway's (NFR) 174 km. New Bongaigaon to Kamakhya (Guwahati) BG line along the south bank of the Brahmaputra expected to be opened in January. It is the second rail route to Guwahati. The existing line, built by the British, runs along the north bank of the river.

The track has been laid, stations and staff quarters built and signalling system set up. Only the station-to-station communication through optical fibre line remains to be put in place. It is expected to be completed by November.

The project was cleared by the Railway Board in 1983- 84. The cost was then estimated to be Rs. 179 crore. Now, 16 years later, as it nears completion, the cost has escalated to Rs. 637 crore.

The work was completed in two phases. The first phase - building the line from Jogighopa to Goalpara - was comparatively easy. It was opened to traffic on April 15, 1998. However, the second phase, bringing the line from Goalpara to Kamakhya (Guwahati), a distance of 124.34 kms. was the most formidable because militants had a free run in the area.

They struck terror among those engaged in the construction work through killings, abductions and threats. A railway engineer was abducted and a supervisor of a private company was killed. Labourers fled in terror.

``Progress came down to a third of the target'', says Mr. Tribhuvan Gupta, Chief Engineer (Project). Regular work could resume only after the Railway Board deployed two companies (240 men) of Railway Protection Special Force.

Those nightmarish days are now behind Mr. Gupta and his men who take pride in their work. The track is of latest design with a full ballast cushion of 250 mm. The lines are made of ``continuously welded'' rail, each piece 4.5 kms. in length. They ensure higher speed, more riding comfort and less wear and tear. They require no maintenance and save ten per cent on fuel.

Mr. Gupta feels that the estimate of all such projects in future should include security cost also.

The new line will not only open up large areas in south Assam and bring the Railways closer to the Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, but connect Guwahati with the rest of the country by a second route.

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