# North Eastern Railway Connectivity Project

North Eastern Railway Connectivity Project is an multi phased railway connectivity project in Northeast India which comprises states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura and it also includes the state of Sikkim. These states come under Northeast Frontier Railway Zone of Indian Railways. This Railway project is considered as strategically important for India because it connects all the border states in this region and also close to ASEAN countries.
The Government of India has planned and projected to connect all capitals of North Eastern states by 2023.

## Background

Northeast Region or popularly known as Seven Sister states are strategically important areas to counter China. These state are connected to India through very narrow area of Siliguri Corridor also named as Chicken's neck. After China's claims over Doklam area of Bhutan and India. It becomes important for India to boost connectivity in this region. During the Sino-Indian War and Nathu La and Cho La clashes came closure to border and build villages near border with Bhutan, India and Nepal.
Under prosperous project by PM Narendra Modi PM Gati Shakti which was launched in 2021 with aim to boost connectivity across the country and to connect all the capitals of Indian state. Especially this region is considered as Gateway to Southeast Asia. Thus strategic railway lines is important for this region. The region currently has 6,829 km of rail network mostly in the state of Assam.
Also to develop tourism in this region railways is major medium. In 2023, various deluxe train started which will tour passenger with major locations like Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati,Kaziranga National Park in Assam, Unakoti in Tripura, Cherrapunji in Meghalaya, Dimapur in Nagaland etcetera locations.
Currently there are three capitals which are linked with railways, they are: Guwahati, Itanagar and Agartala.

## List of Railway lines
### Under construction

| Project | Location | States | Length (in Kilometre) |
| Sivok–Rangpo line | From Sivok, Darjeeling district(WB) To Rangpo, Pakyong district(SK) | West Bengal and Sikkim | 44.96 |
| Bairabi–Sairang line | From Bairabi, Kolasib district To Sairang, Aizawl district | Mizoram | 51.38 |
| Jiribam–Imphal line | From Jiribam, Jiribam district To Imphal, Imphal district | Manipur | 110.63 |
| Dhansiri–Zubza line | From Dhansiri(Dimapur), Dimapur district To Zubza,Kohima district | Nagaland | 82.5 |
| Tetelia-Byrnihat line | From Tetelia(Guwahati), Kamrup district To Byrnihat, Ri-Bhoi district | Assam and Meghalaya | 22 |

### Proposed

| Project | Location | States | Length (in kilometre) | Note |
| Bhalukpong–Tenga–Tawang line | From Bhalukpong, West Kameng district To Tawang, Tawang district | Arunachal Pradesh | 378 | |
| North Lakhimpur–Bame–Silapathar line | From North Lakhimpur, Lakhimpur district(AS) Via Aalo and Bame, West Siang district(AR) To Silapathar, Dhemaji district(AS) | Assam and Arunachal Pradesh | 247.85 | |
| Pasighat–Tezu–Rupai line | From Rupai, Tinsukia district(AS) Via Tezu, Lohit district(AR) To Pasighat, East Siang district(AR) | Assam and Arunachal Pradesh | 227 | |
| Murkongselek–Pasighat line | FromMurkongselek(AS) To Pasighat(AR) | Assam and Arunachal Pradesh | 26.15 | |
| Imphal–Moreh line | From Imphal, Imphal district To Moreh, Tengnoupal district | Manipur | 111 | |
| Byrnihat-Shillong line | From Byrnihat, Ri-Bhoi district To Shillong, East Khasi Hills district | Meghalaya | 108 | |
| Sairiang-Hmawngbuchhuah line | From Sairang, Aizawl district To Hmawngbuchhuah, Lawngtlai district | Mizoram | 223 | |
| Rangpo-Gangtok line | From Rangpo, Pakyong district To Gangtok, Gangtok district | Sikkim | 44 | It will be the second phase of Sivok-Ranhpo line and which will be the last state capital to be connected via a railway line |

## India–Bangladesh rail link

The Government of two countries signed MoU for railway project linking Akhaurah, Bangladesh and Agartala of Tripura, India. The project is expected to be completed in mid-2023. NFR also conducted surveys for Belonia-Chittagong rail link.

## India-Bhutan rail link

See rail transport in Bhutan.

## Trans–Asian railway

In Northeast India, the government is developing multiple railway projects to connect the region with the Trans-Asian Railway (TAR). A key project is the 118-km railway line from Imphal in Manipur to Moreh on the Myanmar border, aimed at improving access to the TAR. Additionally, a route from Tripura to Bangladesh is proposed to enhance the region's integration into the TAR network.