Other reports suggest that the Sikkim Vande Bharat, once operational, will take you to Guwahati in less than 5 hours, which would prove to be a game-changer for the people there.
The Sikkim Vande Bharat promises to revolutionize the travel experience and play a pivotal role in enhancing connectivity for the entire Northeast region. The high-speed train service will also reconnect Sikkim to the Indian railway network. To recall, last year, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said that there was a plan to run semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Express to link Sikkim by December next year (2024). During his visit to the state, the minister also inspected the progress of 45km-long Sevoke-Rangpo railway project.
“There will be 14 tunnels along the route and 17 bridges. Work on six tunnels has already ended and the construction of the bridges is also going on in full swing. The Prime Minister is keen to put Sikkim on the railway map of India. Once Rangpo is connected, our next focus will be the stretch between Rangpo and Gangtok. We want to run the Vande Bharat Express that will link Sikkim by December 2024,” Vaishnaw had said.
According to The Telegraph report quoting sources in Northeast Frontier Railway said the Union government wanted to have a rail link to Nathu-la, a pass located on the India-China frontier. The Sevoke-Rangpo stretch, they said, is likely to be completed by December this year.
“Sikkim is geographically strategic and hence, the improvement of the state’s connectivity — like in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh — is a priority for the central government,” said a source.
Other reports suggest that the Sikkim Vande Bharat, once operational, will take you to Guwahati in less than 5 hours, which would prove to be a game-changer for the people there.