Guwahati: The high-speed electric trains are likely to reach Guwahati by 2020 and run in the rest of the Northeast by 2022 with the Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) setting the same target.
The NFR on Tuesday said work for electrification of the entire 2,536-km railway lines under it have been intensified with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs recently approving 100 per cent electrification of the tracks in the country by 2022.
NFR chief public relations officer Pranav Jyoti Sharma said the work for electrification of the tracks has been divided among two agencies - Centre for Railway Electrification (CORE) and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL).
Electrification of the railway tracks is likely to give an impetus to passenger and goods movement in the Northeast where poor communication network has always been a common complaint.
The 101km long tracks under NFR between Katihar and Malda court station via Kumedpur has been electrified as work for rest of the un-electrified track has been divided into segments and targeted for completion in a phased manner.
The RVNL has been entrusted with the electrification of the 382km Raninagar-Jalpaiguri to Guwahati via Rangiya portion. The CORE is working on electrification of the 267km tracks from Katihar to Raninagar-Jalpaiguri.
"New Bongaigaon to Kamakhya via Goalpara (175km) and Guwahati to Dibrugarh via Lumding (661km) is being implemented by CORE. Contracts have already been awarded and work is in various stages of progress. Lumding to Badarpur (172km), Badarpur to Karimganj-Agartala-Sabroom-Akhaura including all branch lines to Silchar, Jiribam, Bhairabi, Dullabcherra, Mahishasan (590km) have also been sanctioned and will be implemented by CORE," Sharma said in a statement.
Other branch lines like Katihar-Jogbani, Barsoi-Radhikapur, Eklakhi-Balurghat, New Jalpaiguri-New Mal-Alipurduar Jn, New Coochbehar-Bamanhat, Coochbehar-Golokganj-Dhubri, Rangiya-Rangapara-Harmuti-Naharlagun, Chaparmukh-Silghat, Senchoa-Mairabri, Mariani-Furketing via Jorhat, Tinsukia-Makum-Tirap have also received the required sanction for electrification, he said.
Suresh Prabhu, who was the railway minister before Piyush Goel, had inaugurated electrification work between Raninagar-Jalpaiguri and Gu-wahati in May 2017. The railways have so far sanctioned Rs 4,435 crore for the work.