‘Delhi is nearer now’: Rajdhani Express train’s shrill horn fulfils a promise of adding Aizawl to the Indian Railways network

Hurtling through a sea of hundreds, Lalhmangaihsangi, a 16-year-old student of the government school in Sairang, hops onto the window seat. Excited to experience her first train journey, she clings to the ledge of the window so as not to miss the view awaiting her. “It is as if we are in the air,” she exclaims as the train passes through the Kurung Bridge, one of the tallest at 114 m — 42 m taller than Qutub Minar — on the 51.38-km Bairabi-Sairang line.

“Until now, I saw trains only in movies and books. For the first time, I am experiencing it. I wish to travel to New Delhi and see India Gate,” said the 11th standard student, smiling, accompanied by her friend.

As the train moves on, the clouds rise from the mountain. Lawma, the Sarpanch of Lengpui, is also on the train along with his extended family members.

“The train should have come much earlier in the state. I would say it is one of the best gifts to the state. We live in very difficult terrain and due to this it takes hours to travel for even shorter distances. Now we are directly connected with the cities such as Guwahati, Kolkata and the National Capital. Delhi is much closer to us now,” he said.

Thangdingliana, a driver in the Power & Electricity Department, is happy that this Christmas he will get things at a cheaper rate from Guwahati.

“Most of my money is spent during Christmas. This time I will go to Guwahati or Delhi by train and buy all the required items at a cheaper rate. Aizawl is very costly during that period,” he said.

Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said the extension of the Bairabi-Sairang line is at a conceptual stage, but the government wants to take it forward soon (Express Photo)

C Lalbiakfawni, a school headmistress, expects construction material to turn cheaper after the arrival of the train. “The construction material is not only costly but it is of low quality. Not only do government departments such as road construction agencies face problems, but even the common people face difficulty in building their houses because of low quality material. The train will facilitate the movement of sand, cement, ballast, etc., from outside. Also, food items such as rice will get cheaper after the operation of freight trains,” said the teacher, whose schoolchildren participated in the cultural programme held at the Sairang railway station during the inauguration ceremony.

When asked if a railway network would be successful in spreading Mizo culture in different parts of the country, she said: “A gap cannot be bridged just by laying the track. We have to understand each other’s culture. For that we should learn more languages. There is a hope that the train will increase tourism in the state, (and) through that people might learn and share new things.”

However, Mesak has a different opinion on the matter. “While there is happiness among people for getting a new rail line, there is an underlying fear as well that the outsiders might come and stay for a longer time. Given the history of the state’s fight for the rights of their own people, this should also be addressed,” said the 27-year-old who works in a restaurant in Aizawl.

Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the Bairabi-Sairang line and flagged off three new express trains — the Sairang (Aizawl)-Delhi (Anand Vihar Terminal) Rajdhani Express, the Sairang-Guwahati Express and the Sairang-Kolkata Express.

Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said the extension of the Bairabi-Sairang line is at a conceptual stage, but the government wants to take it forward soon.

“It is a concept which has been discussed at multiple levels and it is still in a conceptual stage. But it is a vision that we want to take forward. For example, in the case of Manipur, we want to take the line all the way to Moreh. Same in the case of Mizoram, we want the line to be extended further down. In the case of Sikkim, we want to take the Sevok–Rangpo line to Gangtok. We are doing it practically for every state and it is very important that far-flung areas get connected by Railways,” Vaishnaw told The Indian Express.

The railway ministry is in consultation with the state government for transportation of vegetables and exotic fruits, he added.

“I also discussed with the state government if we could transport some of the vegetables and flowers grown here. There are famous exotic fruits like dragon fruit which are grown here. The General Manager will be working with IRCTC and CONCOR to create a mechanism so that a transportation system is created like we did in Kashmir for apple transportation,” Vaishnaw added.

Of the 51.38-km length of Bairabi-Sairang line, 31 per cent of the stretch (15.88 km) passes through tunnels, 23 per cent (11.78 km) through bridges and the remaining 46 per cent (23.71 km) is open track in cutting and filling.

The railway line runs down the east bank of river Tlawng, the state’s longest river, and passes through the extremely rugged and sleep mountains, very few plains scattered in between, with the support of 45 tunnels, 55 major bridges, 87 minor bridges, 5 road over bridges (ROBs) and 6 road under bridges (RUBs). Almost 44 per cent of the line had to be blasted through mountains, and this was more complicated by the construction windows, which happened to be short because of the monsoon-prone weather of the region.

Being one of the land-locked states of India, Mizoram is surrounded by Myanmar on the East and South, and Bangladesh on the West. It also shares its boundary with Assam, Tripura and Manipur towards the North. With Myanmar, Mizoram shares an international boundary of 404 km and with Bangladesh, it shares a boundary of 318 km.

This new railway line has a speed potential of 100 kmph. The ruling gradient of the section is 1 in 80. Initially the cost of the project was Rs. 5,021.45 crore, which has been now revised to almost Rs 8,100 crore (Express Photo)

Mizoram’s railway journey dates back to the 1980s, when a meter-gauge line was laid between Kathakal (Assam)-Bairabi (Mizoram). However, the train remained out of the reach of most of the state’s population since the line was just 5-km inside the state. On March 21, 2016, the railway line from Assam to Bairabi was converted to broad gauge.

However, to extend the rail line beyond Bairabi was a difficult task. For the first time in September 1999, the Railway Board sanctioned a Preliminary Engineering cum-Traffic (PET) Survey. But the survey work could not be completed as the proposed alignment passes through thick forest areas with poor visibility and also due to local agitation and intimidation by the inhabitants.

Since the PET survey was found not feasible, the Board was requested to change it to Reconnaissance Engineering-Cum-Traffic (RET) survey, which was agreed by the Railway Board in 2003. The RET survey for Bairabi-Sairang Rail link was carried out by the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), the zone under which the line falls, in March 2006. On the basis of this, RITES, a railway public service undertaking (PSU), was asked to carry out pre-construction survey and geo-technical investigation in 2008 for a new BG Railway line from Bairabi to Sairang. RITES submitted its final report in August 2011.

Considering an important link between Mizoram and the rest of the country, the Government of India declared the project as a National Project in 2008-09. Subsequently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the project on November 29, 2014.

Land acquisition for the project was completed by 2015 and NFR took possession of the land from the state government. The actual construction started in 2015-16. The project line traverses through the Thingdawl Block of Kolasib district and Tlangnuam block of Aizawl district.

This new railway line has a speed potential of 100 kmph. The ruling gradient of the section is 1 in 80. Initially the cost of the project was Rs. 5,021.45 crore, which has been now revised to almost Rs 8,100 crore. It created history when the first-ever successful trial run to Sairang was conducted on May 1, 2025, bringing Aizawl on the railway network’s map.

Apart from Sairang, the three new stations on the stretch are Hortoki, Kawnpui and Mualkhang.

The tunnel portals of the line feature some of the popular arts of Mizoram such as ‘Mizo Village’, ‘Cheraw’, ‘Seluphan’, ‘Pasaltha’, ‘Zawlbuk’, ‘Puanchei’, etc., which provide an insight into the history, customs, dances and physiography of the state.

While returning back in the train at Bairabi station, 27-year old Ialmuanpuiaa had a very high hope. “I am suffering from a lung disease. I do not have money and we do not have a good government hospital in Aizawl. I cannot go by private vehicle because they will charge a high amount. But I feel this train might be of help. I can go to Guwahati, Kolkata or Delhi and get myself treated in a government hospital,” said the man, as he leaned over the window to take a look at the rolling Lushai hills.