North Eastern Railway Connectivity Project is an multi phased railway connectivity project in

Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

which comprises states of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

and

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

and it also includes the state of

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

. These states come under

Northeast Frontier Railway Zone The Northeast Frontier Railway (abbreviated NFR) is one of the Zones and divisions of Indian Railways, 19 railway zones of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered in Maligaon, Guwahati in the state of Assam, and responsible for operation and e ...

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

. 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 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

countries. The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

has planned and projected to connect all capitals of North Eastern states by 2030est.

Background

The Northeast region is a strategically important area to counter China. These state are connected to India through the very narrow area of

Siliguri Corridor The Siliguri Corridor, often dubbed the "Chicken's Neck", is a stretch of land around the city of Siliguri in West Bengal, India. at the narrowest section, this geopolitical and geoeconomical corridor connects the seven states of northeast ...

. After China's claims over the

Doklam Doklam (), called Donglang ( zh, c=洞朗) by China, is an area in Chumbi Valley with a high plateau and a valley, lying between China's Yadong County to the north, Bhutan's Haa District to the east and India's Sikkim state to the west. Since ...

area of

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

and India, it has become important for India to boost connectivity in this region. The project PM Gati Shakti aims to boost connectivity across the country and to connect all the capitals of Indian states. Especially this region is considered as Gateway to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. 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. The railway will also be used to develop tourism in this region. In 2023, various deluxe trains begans operations connecting major locations such as

Kamakhya Temple The Kamakhya Temple at Nilachal hills in Guwahati, Assam is one of the oldest and most revered centres of Tantra, Tantric practices, dedicated to the goddess Kamakhya. The temple is the center of the ''Kulachara Tantra Marga'' and the site o ...

in Guwahati (Assam),

Kaziranga National Park Kaziranga National Park is a List of national parks of India, national park in the Golaghat district, Golaghat, Sonitpur district, Sonitpur, Biswanath district, Biswanath and Nagaon district, Nagaon districts of the state of Assam, Assam, India. ...

in Assam,

Unakoti Unakoti or Subrai Khung is a sculptural emblem and ancient Shaivite place that hosts rock carvings, figures and images of gods and goddesses. The bas relief sculptures at Unakoti are on stylistic grounds ascribed to 7th to 9th century CE, to ...

in Tripura,

Cherrapunji Cherrapunji () - popularly known as, or Sohra - it's original native and official name, is a sub-divisional town (Proposed District) East Khasi Hills district in the Indian state of Meghalaya. It was the traditional capital of ''ka hima Sohra'' ...

in Meghalaya, and Dimapur in Nagaland. Currently the three capitals Guwahati,

Itanagar Itanagar () is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The seat of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, the seat of government of Arunachal Pradesh, and the seat of Gauhati High Court permanent bench at Nahar ...

and

Agartala Agartala (, , ) is the capital and the List of cities and towns in Tripura, largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tripura, situated on the banks of Haora River, Haora/Saidra River, about east of the border ...

are linked with railways.

List of Railway lines

Under construction

Proposed

India–Bangladesh rail link

The Government of two countries signed MoU for railway project linking Akhaurah,

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

and

of Tripura,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The project is expected to be completed in mid-2023. NFR also conducted surveys for Belonia-

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

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.

References

{{Reflist Rail transport in India by state or union territory Northeast India