[Prafulla Kaman]
PASIGHAT, 13 Feb: The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) successfully conducted a speed trial run of a special train on the Murkongselek-Sille stretch of the 26.15-km-long Murkongselek-Pasighat broad gauge (BG) railway line on Friday.
After the successful trial run, NFR officials said, the Sille railway station (B Class) has been commissioned. However, operation of passenger trains linking the new station has not been introduced yet.
Construction of the remaining 11-km stretch of the railway track from Sille to Pasighat in East Siang district is underway.
The Murkongselek-Pasighat BG railway is a flagship project under the NFR, which reached about 60 percent physical progress till the end of December last year.
The new BG railway project, worth Rs 414.85 crore, was sanctioned by the union railway ministry in 2012. It is being executed in two phases. The first phase covered Murkongselek to Torajan at the Assam-Arunachal boundary and the Ruksin to Sille station, while the second phase covers the 11-km portion from Sille to Pasighat station.
Once operational, the Murkongselek-Pasighat BG route is expected to boost local economy, promote tourism, facilitate military mobilisations, and strengthen national integration by connecting remote border areas with the rest of the country.
