World’s tallest pier railway bridge to be part of Jiribam-Imphal railway project

GUWAHATI/IMPHAL: The world's tallest pier railway bridge, with a height of 141 metres, is being constructed as part of the Jiribam-Imphal railway project, which has already achieved physical progress of 93.30 per cent, officials said on Sunday.

With the completion of the 111-km-long Jiribam-Imphal railway project by December this year, Manipur's capital would come onto the Indian Railways network, making Imphal the fourth capital city in the northeastern region to have a rail link. Northeast Frontier Railway's (NFR) Chief Public Relations Officer Sabyasachi De said that the Rs 14,322 crore project is one of the crucial connectivity projects for the northeastern region.

The project would have a total of 11 major bridges and 137 minor bridges, of which work on five major bridges and 101 minor bridges has been completed so far. The section from Jiribam to Khongsang has already been commissioned for train service. After completion of the entire project, the present road journey time of about 10 hours to reach Imphal from Jiribam would be reduced to 2.5 hours by railway. Assam's main city of Guwahati (adjoining capital city of Dispur), Tripura's capital Agartala, and Arunachal Pradesh's Naharlagun (adjacent to the capital city of Itanagar) are already on the railway network. (IANS)