Overview

• The 51.3–51.38 km broad‑gauge section has cleared Commissioner of Railway Safety checks for revenue and freight operations, with final Railway Board sign‑off pending.
• Initial passenger services will run on diesel at up to 90 km/h on a section permitted for 100 km/h, with electrification targeted by the Northeast Frontier Railway for January 2026.
• Built over roughly 11 years at about Rs 5,021 crore, the line includes 48 tunnels totaling 12,853 metres, 55 major bridges and 87 minor bridges, and four new stations at Hortoki, Kawnpui, Mualkhang and Sairang.
• The new connection is expected to reduce Bairabi–Aizawl travel from five to six hours by road to roughly one to one‑and‑a‑half hours by rail.
• Authorities plan to begin with Sairang–Bairabi services, then extend to Silchar, with further Aizawl links to Kolkata and Delhi under consideration as Aizawl becomes the fourth Northeastern capital on the rail grid.