The Rangiya-Murkongselek section is a long railway line connecting
Rangiya in
Kamrup district
Kamrup Rural district, or simply Kamrup district (Pron: ˈkæmˌrəp or ˈkæmˌru:p), is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India formed by dividing the old Kamrup district into two in the year 2003; other being Kamrup Metro ...
with
Murkongselek in
Dhemaji district
Dhemaji district (Pron:deɪˈmɑ:ʤi or di:ˈmɑ:ʤi) is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters are located at Dhemaji and commercial headquarters being located Silapathar. The district occupies an ...
in the Indian state of
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
. The entire section is under the jurisdiction of
Northeast Frontier Railway
The Northeast Frontier Railway (abbreviated NFR) is one of the 19 railway zones of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered in Maligaon, Guwahati in the state of Assam, and responsible for operation and expansion of rail network all across No ...
.
History
Tezpur-Balipara Light Railway
The Tezpur-Balipara Light Railway was built as a long,
narrow gauge railway line between
Tezpur
Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 100, ...
and Balipara in 1895 with the primary aim of transporting tea from upcountry estates to the river port of Tezpur for onward shipment down the
Brahmaputra
The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. I ...
to
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...
. A extension to this line was made from
Rangapara, then a station on this line, to Borjuli Tea estate as well. However, this line was closed to traffic on 1908.
This line continued to operate until 1952 before it was taken over by the
North Eastern Railway and was converted to metre gauge.
Singri-Panchnoi River Tramway
The Singri-Panchnoi River Tramway was a privately owned narrow gauge line that ran northwards from Singri Ghat on the Brahmaputra River to the environs of Hugrajuli. The line opened in 1919 to transport tea down to the Singri Ghat.
Eastern Bengal Railway
Tracks were laid at
Rangiya as a part of the extension of
Eastern Bengal Railway
The Eastern Bengal Railway (full name: "Eastern Bengal Railway Company"; shortened EBR) was one of the pioneering railway companies that operated from 1857 to 1942, in Bengal and Assam provinces of British Raj, British India.
History
Formation ...
's main metre gauge line from
Sarbhog
Sarbhog (also spelt as Sorbhog) is a town and a town area committee in Barpeta district in the Indian state of Assam. It is located on the banks of river Beki and is known for the century-old temple of lord Krishna known as "Gorokhiya Gohainr ...
to
Amingaon in 1909. The
Tangla extension was built from Rangiya to Tangla in 1912. The line was extended to
Rangapara North station on the Tezpur-Balipara Light Railway by 1933.
Post-independence
Post-independence the metre-gauge line was extended from Rangapara North to
Murkongselek. The Balipara-Bhalukpong branch line was built in 1989–90.
Conversion to broad gauge
The conversion of this section to
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 , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
started on 2007–08. The Rangiya-Rangapara North-Dekargaon section was converted and opened for traffic in 2013. The
Tezpur railway station
Tezpur railway station was a railway station located in Sonitpur district of Assam. Its code is TZTB. It serves Tezpur
Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of ...
was abandoned however owing to its proximity to Brahmaputra river which caused frequent flooding and
Dekargaon railway station became the terminus of the branch line. The Rangapara North-Harmuti & Harmuti-North Lakhimpur sections were converted in 2014 and the North Lakhimpur-Sripani section was converted and opened in 2015. The final stretch between Sripani and Murkongselek along with the Balipara-Bhalukpong branch line was converted and opened to traffic in May 2015 as well.
Branch lines
The Balipara-
Bhalukpong branch line was built in 1989–90.
The line was converted to broad gauge in May 2015.
The Harmuti-
Naharlagun
Naharlagun is a town situated in the foothills of Himalayas in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It falls and is administered as a part of Itanagar Capital Complex.
Geography
It is at an altitude of 155 metres from sea level. Surroun ...
branch line was announced in 2008 and was opened in 2014 as a part of the Rangiya-Murkongselek gauge conversion project. This was declared a national project considering that it connected
Itanagar
Itanagar () is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The seat of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, the seat of government of Arunachal Pradesh, and the seat of Gauhati High Court permanent bench at Naharlag ...
, the capital of
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It share ...
, with the Indian railway network.
The
Bogibeel Bridge
The Bogibeel Bridge is a combined road and rail bridge over the Brahmaputra River in the northeastern Indian state of Assam between Dhemaji district and Dibrugarh district, which was started in the year 2002 and took a total of 200 months to ...
was sanctioned in 1997 and work started on it in 2002. It was intended to link the
Rangiya-Murkongselek section on the north bank of the Brahmaputra with the
Lumding-Dibrugarh section in the South bank. The work was completed on 2018 and the first train across the bridge was flagged off by
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the List of Prime Ministers of India, 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the List of chief ministers of Gujarat, Chief Minist ...
.
Proposed projects and extensions
Three national projects of strategic importance are proposed in this section primarily focusing on providing connectivity with
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It share ...
. A broad gauge railway track is proposed from the existing rail head at
Bhalukpong to
Tawang
Tawang is a town and administrative headquarter of Tawang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The town was once the capital of the Tawang Tract, which is now divided into the Tawang district and the West Kameng district. Tawang ...
via Tenga & Dirang. Another
Lakhimpur-Bame-Silapathar line is proposed from
North Lakhimpur
North Lakhimpur ( ) is a city and a municipal board in Lakhimpur district in the Indian state of Assam, about northeast of Guwahati. It is the district headquarters of Lakhimpur district.
North Lakhimpur is also the name of the subdivision of L ...
to
Silapathar via Bame &
Aalo
Aalo, formerly Along, is a census town and headquarter of the West Siang district district of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is located from Likabali, which is at the border of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
It is also an Advance Lan ...
The terminal station of the section is also expected to be moved from Murkongselek to
Parshuram Kund
Parshuram Kund is a Hindu pilgrimage sites situated on the Brahmaputra plateau in the lower reaches of the Lohit River and 21 km north of Tezu in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Dedicated to sage Parshuram, the popular site ...
in
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It share ...
, via
Pasighat
Pasighat is the headquarters of East Siang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Situated at the eastern foothills of the Himalayas at above mean sea level, Pasighat is Arunachal's oldest town. The Government of India included Pa ...
and
Tezu
Tezu is a census town and the headquarters of Lohit district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is the fifth largest town in Arunachal Pradesh and one of its most developed.
Tezu is one of the 60 constituencies of Legislative Assemb ...
and to further connect it to the
Lumding–Dibrugarh section at
Rupai.
The long
Silghat Town-
Dekargaon new line project has been sanctioned to connect Silghat on the south bank of Brahmaputra on the
Chaparmukh-Silghat branch line with Dekargaon. This also entails the building of a new railway bridge across the
Brahmaputra River
The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. I ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rangia-Murkongselek section
5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India
Rail transport in Assam
Railway lines opened in 1900
*