The Guwahati–Lumding section is a broad-gauge railway line connecting and . The long railway line operates in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. It is under the jurisdiction of

Northeast Frontier Railway zone The Northeast Frontier Railway (abbreviated NFR) is one of the Zones and divisions of Indian Railways, 19 railway zones of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered in Maligaon, Guwahati in the state of Assam, and responsible for operation and e ...

History

In the pre-partition days, Assam was linked to

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

through the Akhaura-Kulaura-Chhatak Line and Akhaura-Laksam-Chittagong Line. The Chittagong link had been constructed in response to the demand of the Assam tea planters for a railway link to

Chittagong port Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

Assam Bengal Railway The Assam Bengal Railway (ABR) was one of the pioneering railway companies in British Raj, British India. Central Railway Building, Headquartered in Chittagong, it functioned from 1892 to 1942. History Assam Bengal Railway was incorporated in ...

started construction of a railway track on the eastern side of

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

in 1891. A track between

and

Comilla Comilla (), officially spelled Cumilla, is a metropolis on the banks of the Gomti River in eastern Bangladesh. Comilla was one of the cities of ancient Bengal. It was once the capital of Tripura kingdom. Comilla Airport is located in the Duli ...

was opened to traffic in 1895. The Comilla-Akhaura-Kulaura-Badarpur section was opened in 1896–1898 and finally extended to

Lumding Lumding is a town with a municipal board in Hojai District in of Assam state in India. It is the location of Lumding Junction railway station, a hub for India's Northeast Frontier Railway network. Assamese and Meitei ( Manipuri) are the o ...

in 1903. The Assam Bengal Railway constructed a branch line to Guwahati, connecting the city to the eastern line in 1900. During the 1900–1910 period, the Eastern Bengal Railway built the Golakganj-Amingaon branch line, thus connecting the western bank of the Brahmaputra to the western line.

Broad gauge

The railway tracks from Guwahati to Lumding and from Chaparmukh to Haibargaon were upgraded from

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

in 1994.

Line doubling

The Guwahati-Lumding-Dibrugarh line was proposed to be doubled in the

Railway Budget Railway budget of India was the Annual Financial Statement for Indian Railways administered by the Railway Board, which handles rail transport in India. It was presented every year by the Minister of Railways, representing the Ministry of Rail ...

for 2011–12. The long Lumding-Hojai doubling project was sanctioned in 2012–13. The Lumding Hojai patch doubling was completed on 10 July 2019. The long New Guwahati-Digaru doubling project was completed in 2012–13.

Railway reorganisation

The Assam Railway and Trading Company Limited was merged with Assam Bengal Railway in 1945. With partition, Assam Bengal Railway was split up and railway lines in Assam became Assam Railway. In 1952, North East Railway was formed with the amalgamation of Assam Railway, Oudh-Tiirhut Railway and the Kanpur-Achnera section of

Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway The Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (reporting mark BB&CI) was a company incorporated in 1855 to undertake the task of constructing railway lines between Bombay to the erstwhile Baroda State, that became the present-day Baroda (Vadod ...

. Northeast Frontier Railway was created with a part of NE Railway in 1958.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guwahati - Lumding section 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Rail transport in Assam Railway lines opened in 1900 Transport in Guwahati Transport in Lumding