With Bairabi-Sairang new line set to open, Mizoram expects massive changes in connectivity

Mizoram, one of the seven-sister States in northeast India, will soon be connected with the national railway network when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the new 51.38-km Bairabi-Sairang new broad gauge line constructed at an estimated cost of ₹5,021 crore in the second week of September.

The new line winding up at Sairang, about 20 km from Aizwal, would connect the State capital with other northeastern States, as well as the rest of the country. While connectivity to Mizoram so far was through road and by air, the new line has opened up another avenue. The Sairang-Bairabi line connects Silchar in Assam via Bhodahpur Junction thereby integrating the network with other northeastern States of Assam, Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh.

Indian Railways has big plans to connect other States, namely, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Sikkim with the national network by 2030, a senior Northeast Frontier Railway official said.

The official told the journalists who visited the new line project on Sunday (August 31, 2025) that the project fulfils the cherished dream of Mizoram residents for railway connectivity to the State capital. While connectivity by road entailed long hours of travel, that by air was expensive. However, travel by train would provide affordable options to all categories of people, besides boosting economic activities in the region with a special focus on tourism, the official said.

Project highlights

The 51.38-km new line comprises 48 tunnels with a total length of 12.85 km and the longest being about 1.37 km; 55 major bridges with the longest being about 1.3 km and the tallest being about 114 m from the base (Krung Bridge at Sairang); 87 minor bridges; five road over bridges and six road under bridges.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually laid the foundation stone for the project on November 29, 2014 while he virtually flagged off the first passenger train between Bairabi and Silchar on May 27, 2016. The first freight train had arrived in Bairabi on March 21, 2016.

The new line project was executed in four packages — Bairabi-Hortoki (16.72 km); Hortoki-Kawnpui (9.71 km); Kawnpui-Mualkhang (12.11 km) and Maulkhang-Sairang (12.84 km), simultaneously. While the Commissioner of Railway Safety, Northeast Frontier Circle, had authorised operation of freight and passenger trains on Bairabi-Hortoki in August 2024, he issued a similar authorisation for Hortoki-Sairang stretch in June 2025.

The official said almost all essential items to Mizoram are brought from Silchar in Assam, a journey of about 10 hours by road. With the commissioning of the new line, the travel time gets reduced to about three hours thereby bringing in massive relief to the residents of the tiny State.

About 80-minute journey

The visiting journalists were taken on a special train from Sairang to Bairabi and back with the train moving through the picturesque hillocks filled with lush green forest, streams and rivers. The journey on each direction took about 80 minutes.

(The reporter is on a field visit organised by the Indian Railways to Mizoram to get a first-hand experience of the Sairang-Bairabi Line.)