Melli railway station

Melli Railway Station
Indian Railways Station
General information
Location	National Highway 10, Melli, Kalimpong District, West Bengal India
Coordinates	27°05′26″N88°27′22″E / 27.0906°N 88.4561°E / 27.0906; 88.4561 Coordinates: 27°05′26″N88°27′22″E / 27.0906°N 88.4561°E / 27.0906; 88.4561
Elevation	100 metres (330 ft)
Owned by	Indian Railways
Operated by	Northeast Frontier Railway
Line(s)	Sivok–Rangpo line
Platforms	2
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Standard (on-ground station)
Parking	Yes ( after completion)
Bicycle facilities	No
Other information
Status	Construction – new line
Station code	MELI
Zone(s)	Northeast Frontier Railway
Division(s)	Alipurduar
History
Opened	TBA
Electrified	No
Location
Melli Railway Station Location in West Bengal Show map of West Bengal Melli Railway Station Location in India Show map of India

Melli Railway Station lies in the town of Melli, Kalimpong district, West Bengal. ^[1] The station lies in the under construction Sivok-Rangpo Railway Line. Melli Railway Station serves city of Kalimpong in West Bengal, and Namchi District, Geyzing District and Soreng District of Sikkim. The station is currently under construction by IRCON company.

Under-construction extension

See also: Geostrategic rail lines of India

Sivok–Rangpo line, 44 km-long line, will provide access to Gangtok in Sikkim. ^[2] The foundation stone for construction of a new railway line from Sevoke railway station to proposed Rangpo railway station on the border of Sikkim and West Bengal was laid in October 2009 by the vice president of India. ^[3] In 2008, the line was proposed to be 53 km long with 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge track but the final alignment is 45 km long with 3.5 km in Sikkim state and the rest in West Bengal state. The track will have 28 bridges and 14 tunnels and 38.5 km of the track will be in tunnels. ^{[4] [5]} Bridges over deep gorges and valleys will provide a scenic journey.^{[ citation needed ]} The track is due to be constructed through the foothills of the Kanchanjungha mountain range and the Teesta river valley. New railway stations will be constructed at Melli, Teesta Bazaar, Geil Khola, Riang, and Rangpo.^{[ needs update ][ speculation? ]}

The Indian Railways signed a contract with the construction company, IRCON, only in May 2010 but the final alignment had not been fixed for the first 22 km through elephant sanctuary forest even in 2013 and the final clearance of environment ministry had not been received. ^[6] To obtain approval of the environment and forest ministry, the railways made a proposal in February 2013 to install elephant sensors along the stretch of the proposed railway line in Mahananda elephant sanctuary or run the trains at a speed of only 20 km per hour in the forest area and stop when an elephant is sighted close to the track. ^[7] People of two villages in East Sikkim, through which a 3.5 km stretch of the 45 km long railway line has been planned, had not agreed to give their land for laying the track. ^[8] The project cost has escalated from the estimated cost of Rs.13.4 billion in 2008 ^[9]

The Supreme Court of India approved the project in February 2016 with strict guidelines of the National Wildlife Board that cleared the project in June 2015 but ordered restricted speed, wireless animal tracking sensors and allowed digging of tunnels only during daytime. The railway line is needed for security and socio-economic reasons. The railway line will help troops and armaments move faster towards the Indo-Tibet border. Railway Board chairman visited and met the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) officials on 2 March 2018 to discuss the commencement of construction of the track and tunnels. ^[10] The railway line up to Rangpo is expected to be completed in 2021. ^[11] In the second phase the line will be extended up to Gangtok. ^[12]

• Estimated cost: Rs.1,340 crore in 2008.
• Length of final alignment: 44.98 km
• Stations en route: Riang, Gailkhola, Tista Bazaar, Melli
• Nearest junction: New Jalpaiguri (30 km from Sevoke through Siliguri)
• Route under tunnels: 38.53 km (86%)
• Number of bridges: 28
• Number of tunnels: 14
• Longest tunnel: 5.1 km

References

1. "Melli Railway Station Departures". indiarailinfo.com.
2. North East to get better Indian Railways connectivity! 5 major rail projects lined up, Financial Express, July 17, 2020.
3. "Update". www.constructionupdate.com. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
4. The Hindu BusinessLine (2010-01-25). "Inspection survey for Sikkim rail link". @businessline. Retrieved 2021-02-09.{{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
5. "The Hindu Business Line : Inspection survey for Sikkim rail link". Archived from the original on 31 January 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
6. "North Bengal-Sikkim Railway Link". Railway Technology. 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
7. Balchand, K. (2013-02-07). "Elephant sensors may come up on railway line to Sikkim". The Hindu. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
8. Villagers’ nod to rail survey, The Telegraph, August 28, 2012
9. "Other projects" (PDF). www.indianrailways.gov.in. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
10. Chanda, Aishik (21 February 2018). "Coming Soon: West Bengal - Sikkim Rail project". www.newindianexpress.com. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
11. Financial Express. Indian Railways new Sivok-Rangpo rail project: Travel from West Bengal to Sikkim in just 2 hours. (30 August 2019).
12. "Very soon, travelling to Sikkim by train will be a possibility". Times of India Travel. 2019-09-17. Retrieved 2021-02-09.