Centre planning underground rail tracks along 40-km corridor connecting northeast, rest of India: Vaishnaw

Guwahati: Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said plans are afoot to lay underground railway tracks along a 40-km strategic corridor in West Bengal, connecting the northeast with the rest of India.

The strategic corridor, called the 'Chicken's Neck' for its shape, is a strip of land located in northern West Bengal’s Siliguri area, having a width of over 20 km. The strip is sandwiched between Nepal and Bangladesh, with Bhutan and China a few hundred kilometres away.

Addressing reporters through video conference on the Union Budget allocation for the railway ministry, Vaishnaw said, “There is special planning for the 40-km strategic corridor connecting the northeast with the rest of the country.” “Planning is underway to lay underground railway tracks, and also make the existing tracks four-line," he said.

Sharing details, Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) General Manager Chetan Kumar Shrivastava and Chief Administrative Officer (Construction), Hitendra Goyal, said the underground lines will be between Tin Mile Haat and Rangapani railway stations in West Bengal.

"This underground stretch is important from a security point of view," Shrivastava said.

One of the lines will go towards Bagdogra in West Bengal, which is vital for the air defence mechanism of the country.

Shrivastava said the tracks will be laid around 20-24 metres underground over a plain area.

Goyal added that along with the underground tracks, the existing double line on the stretch will be converted into a four-line one.

“When these plans are implemented, it will essentially mean that the strategic corridor will have six lines of railway track – four overground and two underground,” one of the officials said.

Assam had last year called for prioritising exploring alternative road routes effectively bypassing the 'Chicken's Neck', after the head of Bangladesh’s interim government Muhammad Yunus made a controversial statement in China, saying India's northeastern states are ‘landlocked’ and have no way to reach the ocean except through his country.