Indian railways explore ways to open railway links with its neighbours

Indian Railways is exploring ways to open railway links with Nepal and Bhutan.

Siliguri (West Bengal), Nov 6 : Indian Railways is exploring ways to open railway links with Nepal and Bhutan.

Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) has conducted engineering and traffic surveys on these routes and is to submit its final report shortly.

At present the movement of most of the goods from and to these countries takes place by road through India.

The railway connectivity is also expected to speed up development activities in the border areas of India.

"Survey is going on and we have discussions with the vested parties. We are asking for opening of railway links with our neighbouring countries," said Basudeb Acharia, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

India is envisaging a total of 161 kilometers of railway line from three of its states Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal connecting five different places in Nepal.

There is also proposal to start railway link between India and Bhutan, covering five bordering cities in Bhutan.

The setting of the railway tracks will give a major boost to the economies of both countries being land logged making transportation of goods easier and cheaper.

There are also proposals to explore new railway route to Bangladesh. Once the Ministry of External Affairs gives the go ahead signal, the construction of railway tracks will start.

The Indian Railways is a 154-year-old mammoth transport lifeline spread over 63,000 kilometres of tracks transporting millions of passengers daily to different destinations.

The Indian Railways have a major contribution in the country's booming economy, as the railways alone carry 40 per cent of the total freight traffic.

ANI