Currently, Sikkim can only be reached overland, i.e, from Sivok to Rangpo. While the new Pakyong Airport is already operational, it only can receive and send flights the weather permitting.
At the same time, the Sivok-Rangpo route often gets stuck with traffic due to landslides and heavy rains. The railway line between Sealdah and Rangpo will ease conjection and guarantee the journey will take two hours at worst. The train will also stop en route at Riang, Teesta Bazaar, and Melli stations.
During the second stage of the project railway tracks will be extended to Gangtok.
The project to build the railway to Sikkim has been discussed since 2009 and put to a pause several times due to difficulties with aquisition of land or environmental issues which are currently all solved.
85 percent of the new railway line will run through tunnels – 14 of them have been planned along the way. The longest tunnel will be 5.27 km long, the shortest one – 538 m. The tunnels will ensure there is no negative impact on flora and fauna of the forests the railway line will run through including Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong, and East Sikkim forest divisions as well as the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary. Besides tunnels, 19 bridges will be build along some of the picturesque stretches.
Railway Line to Connect West Bengal and Sikkim in India
News in Asia
A direct train may link Sealdah in West Bengal to Rangpo in Sikkim by 2021, as the Indian Railways has set the date the Sivok-Rangpo line is expected to become operational. Once completed, the 44.9 km railway line will offer one of the most picturesque this train journeys in the country.