Rail transport in Bhutan

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There is no rail transport in Bhutan.

Bhutan and India signed a memorandum of understanding in January 2005 to connect Bhutan with the Indian Railways network with 5 new routes in Bhutan, [1] [2] additionally Indian Military has also identified more routes to compliment India-China Border Roads (ICBR) & negate Siliguri Corridor geostrategic vulnerability, all of which will be built in 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge.

Note: Rail lines listed west to east.

RouteLength (km)Future ExtensionsOperational (date)Major tunnels # & namesMajor bridges # & namesConceived byStatus/Comments


Gangtok-Nathang-Haa-Paro-Thimphu line Ext-1: Yongphulla Airport-Bathpalathang Airport-Lingmethang(Mongar)-Thimphu-Paro International Airport line.
Also see Ext-3 for Paro-Doklam-Lingzhi Yügyal Dzong connection.
N (2027?) Indian Military Gangtok-Nathang-Haa-Paro International Airport-Thimphu. [3]


Banarhat–Samtse line 18 kmExt-2: Samtse-Nathu La lineN (2025?)2005 Indo-Bhutan MoU BanarhatSamtse. [4] [2]


Hasimara–Pasakh-Phuentsholing line 18 kmExt-3: Phuentsholing-Paro International Airport-Doklam-Lingzhi Yügyal Dzong line.N (2025?)2005 Indo-Bhutan MoU Hasimara Airforce Station–Pasakha-Phuentsholing. This line has the first priority to be constructed due to high passenger and goods transportation. [5] [2]
Kokrajhar–Gelephu line (Gelephu Airport)70 kmN (2025?)2005 Indo-Bhutan MoU Kokrajhar of New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section Gelephu. [2] survey completed in April 2023 and construction will be completed by 2026 (aug 2023 update). [6]
Pathsala–Naglam line 40 kmExt-4: Naglam-Lingmethang(Mongar)-Lhuntse-Rinchen Bumpa line with spur to Trashiyangtse in northeast.
Also see Ext-1 for connection in east to Yongphulla Airport (& Lumla-Tawang).
N (2025?)2005 Indo-Bhutan MoU PathsalaNaglam. [2]


Rangla–Darranga–Samdrup Jongkhar line 60 kmN (2025?)2005 Indo-Bhutan MoU RanglaDarrangaSamdrup Jongkhar. [2]


Tawang-Trashigang-Yongphulla line See Ext-1 (Thimphu-Tawang).N (2027?) Indian Military Tawang-Lumla-Trashigang-Yongphulla Airport. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

Transport in Bhutan uses about 8,000 kilometres (5,000 mi) of roads and four airports, three of which are operational and interconnected. Paro Airport is the only airport which accommodates international flights. As part of Bhutan's infrastructure modernization programs, its road system has been under development since the 1960s. There are no railways and, since Bhutan is a landlocked country without major waterways, there are no ports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Railways</span> Government of India statutory body

Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a total route length of 68,043 km (42,280 mi), running track length of 102,831 km (63,896 mi) and track length of 128,305 km (79,725 mi) as of 31 March 2022. 58,812 km (36,544 mi) of all the gauge routes are electrified with 25 kV 50 Hz AC electric traction as of 1 April 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darjeeling Himalayan Railway</span> Narrow gauge mountain railway in north India

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the DHR or the Toy Train, is a 610 mm gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. Built between 1879 and 1881, it is about 88 km (55 mi) long. It climbs from about 100 m (330 ft) above sea level at New Jalpaiguri to about 2,200 m (7,200 ft) at Darjeeling, using six zig zags and five loops to gain altitude. Ghum station is situated at an altitude of 2,258 metres (7,407 ft). Six diesel locomotives handle most of the scheduled service, with daily tourist trains from Darjeeling to Ghum – India's highest railway station – and the steam-hauled Red Panda service from Darjeeling to Kurseong. Steam-enthusiast specials are hauled by vintage British-built B-Class steam locomotives. The railway's headquarters are at Kurseong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siliguri Corridor</span> Corridor connecting Northeast India to the rest of India

The Siliguri Corridor, also known as the Chicken's Neck, is a stretch of land around the city of Siliguri in West Bengal, India. 20–22 kilometres (12–14 mi) at the narrowest section, this geo-political and geo-economical corridor connects the eight states of northeast India to the rest of the Indian Republic. The countries of Nepal and Bangladesh lie on each side of the corridor and the Kingdom of Bhutan lies at the northern end of the corridor. The Kingdom of Sikkim formerly lay on the northern side of the corridor, until its merging with India in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station</span> Railway junction station in West Bengal, India

New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station established in 1960, is an A1 category broad gauge and narrow-gauge railway station under Katihar railway division of Northeast Frontier Railway zone. It is the largest as well as the busiest railway junction of Northeast India. This junction is largest among the railway stations which serves the city of Siliguri, the largest metropolis of the North Bengal. The other stations are- Siliguri Junction, Gulma, Bagdogra, Matigara, Rangapani and Siliguri Town. New Jalpaiguri junction ranked 10th cleanest railway station in India in 2016 survey and came among the top 100 booking stations of Indian railway. New Jalpaiguri, as a railway station serves as the entry point to North Bengal, Sikkim, other countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the seven northeastern states. New Jalpaiguri Junction acts as a connecting base for the Northeastern states to the Indian mainland.

Transport in Darjeeling consists of the intra-city transport and the communication between the city and other locations in Darjeeling district. Darjeeling is a hill station in the Indian state of West Bengal and it is the headquarters of Darjeeling district situated in the Mahabharat Range at an average elevation of 2,134 m above sea level.

This article deals with the system of transport in Bihar, both public and private.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International North–South Transport Corridor</span> Freight corridor, Moscow to Mumbai

The International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe. The route primarily involves moving freight from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation via ship, rail and road. The objective of the corridor is to increase trade connectivity between major cities such as Mumbai, Moscow, Tehran, Baku, Bandar Abbas, Astrakhan, Bandar Anzali, etc. Dry runs of two routes were conducted in 2014, the first was Mumbai to Baku via Bandar Abbas and the second was Mumbai to Astrakhan via Bandar Abbas, Tehran and Bandar Anzali. The objective of the study was to identify and address key bottlenecks. The results showed transport costs were reduced by "$2,500 per 15 tons of cargo". Other routes under consideration include via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

Banglabandha is a major inland port in northern Bangladesh established to provide a trade link with India, Nepal and Bhutan. The three nations are separated by 52 km (32 mi) of Indian territory, known as the Siliguri Corridor. On the Indian side of the border is Phulbari. Border crossing of vehicles between Phulbari and Banglabandha was inaugurated in January 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhoj Metro</span> Rapid transit system serving Bhopal, India

The Bhoj Metro is an under construction rapid transit system intended to serve the city of Bhopal, India, the capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The total system consists of 6 corridors covering a distance of 104.87 kilometres (65.16 mi). The first phase of the Bhopal Metro project consists of 28 km of line 2 & 5 being under construction. This project will cost 80 billion (US$1.0 billion) approximately. There will be three types of run – on road, on bridges, and underground in some locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haldibari–New Jalpaiguri line</span> Railway line in India

The Haldibari–New Jalpaiguri line connecting Haldibari in Cooch Behar district and New Jalpaiguri in Jalpaiguri district in the Indian state of West Bengal, was since 1878 a part of the Kolkata–Siliguri broad-gauge route. With the partition of India in 1947, while the main part of the route lay in East Pakistan, later Bangladesh, the two ends of the route lying in India were detached.. However, the route continued to be operational till the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Thereafter, the route had been closed till its reopening in 2020. The rest of the line had been in use in the respective countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chilahati railway station</span> Railway station in Bangladesh

Chilahati is a border railway station in Bangladesh, situated in Nilphamari District, in Rangpur Division. It is an active railway transit point on the Bangladesh-India border.

Haldibari International Railway Station serves Haldibari town in Cooch Behar district of the Indian State of West Bengal. It is an active railway transit point on the Bangladesh–India border. Important trains like New Jalpaiguri - Dhaka Cantonment-New Jalpaiguri Mitali Express runs through Haldibari and Kolkata - Haldibari-Kolkata Tri-Weekly Intercity Express, Sealdah-Haldibari-Sealdah Darjeeling Mail Originates or Starts and Ends or Terminates at Haldibari Railway Station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharatmala</span> Indian highway and expressway construction project

The Bharatmala Pariyojna is an ecosystem of road development which includes development of tunnels, bridges, elevated corridors, flyovers, overpass, interchanges, bypasses, ring roads etc. to provide shortest, jam free & optimized connectivity to multiple places, it is a centrally-sponsored and funded Road and Highways project of the Government of India. Bharatmala is mainly focused on connecting remote areas and satellite cities of megacities such as Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad etc. The total investment for 83,677 km (51,994 mi) committed new highways is estimated at 10.63 lakh crore (US$130 billion), making it the single largest outlay for a government road construction scheme. The project will build highways from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and then cover the entire string of Himalayan territories - Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand - and then portions of borders of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar alongside Terai, and move to West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and right up to the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur and Mizoram. Special emphasis will be given on providing connectivity to far-flung border and rural areas including the tribal and backward areas. Bharatmala Project will interconnect 550 District Headquarters through a minimum 4-lane highway by raising the number of corridors to 50 and move 80% freight traffic to National Highways by interconnecting 24 logistics parks, 66 inter-corridors (IC) of total 8,000 km (5,000 mi), 116 feeder routes (FR) of total 7,500 km (4,700 mi) and 7 north east Multi-Modal waterway ports.

The Barsoi–Radhikapur branch line links Barsoi railway station on the Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line to Radhikapur railway station on the Bangladesh–India border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sabroom railway station</span> Rail station in Tripura, India

Sabroom railway station, code SBRM, is a railhead railway station which serves Sabroom town in South Tripura district of Tripura state of India. It is located near Feni River which serves as Bangladesh–India border.

The Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System is an 82.15 km (51.05 mi) long, semi-high speed rail corridor currently under construction which will connect Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut. It is one of the three rapid rail corridors planned under Phase I of the RapidX project managed by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC). With a maximum speed of 180 km/h (111.85 mph), the distance between Delhi and Meerut will be covered in less than 60 minutes. The project will cost 30,274 crore (US$3.8 billion) and will have 22 stations, and two Depots at Duhai and Modipuram.

Maitri Setu is a 150-metre (490 ft) bridge on Feni River which links Tripura in India with Chittagong port in Bangladesh, thus providing a shorter and more economical alternate land route between India's eastern and western states compared to the longer route through Assam. On 9 March 2021, it was officially opened to public by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. The bridge is constructed and being maintained by NHIDCL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dedicated freight corridors in India</span> Dedicated freight corridor network in India.

The Dedicated freight corridors in India are a network of broad gauge freight railway lines that solely serve freight trains, thus making the freight service in India faster and more efficient. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India is responsible for undertaking planning, development, and mobilisation of financial resources and construction, maintenance and operation of these corridors.

North Eastern Railway Connectivity Project is an multi phased railway connectivity project in Northeast India which comprises states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura and it also includes the state of Sikkim. These states come under Northeast Frontier Railway Zone of Indian Railways. 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 countries.

References

  1. International Railway Journal March 2005.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Rail connectivity to Bhutan? Indian Railways submits studies for 5 links". The Financial Express. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  3. [], , .
  4. Pointers. Railway Gazette International March 2005.
  5. "View: Enhancing Siliguri corridor for ease of trade and transit in South Asia". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  6. [https://www.livehindustan.com/national/story-first-international-train-services-between-india-bhutan-soon-8545172.html रेल में बैठकर जा सकेंगे विदेश, 2026 तक इस खूबसूरत देश तक बिछ जाएगी पटरी, Live Hindustan, 5 aug 2023.
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