Bairabi : The Bairabi-Sairang railway line, which will put Mizoram on the country’s railway map, is likely to be commissioned by July next year, officials said on Friday. About 93 per cent of work for the 51.38-km line has already been completed, officers of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) told Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati during a review meeting for the project.    

There are four stations on the line — Hortoki, Kawnpui, Mualkhang and Sairang, and the governor was informed that the line till Hortoki will be commissioned in the next few days, Raj Bhavan officials said.

A successful trial run has already been done on the Bairabi-Hortoki section, they said.Services till the Mualkhang station would also be started in the next few months, they added.

The line till Sairang near state capital Aizawl will be eventually commissioned by July next year, officials said. The railway project will boost Mizoram’s economy, besides helping the state’s tourism industry, they said.   

Kambhampati said when the project is complete, it will bring down the time required to travel to Mizoram from Assam and also, significantly reduce transportation costs.The project, sanctioned in 2008-09, costs Rs 8,213.72 crore as per revised estimates, officials of NFR said.    

The line, which begins at Bairabi on the Assam-Mizoram border, has 55 major and 87 minor bridges, and 32 tunnels, they said. The construction work began in 2015.