With over 50 percent of work done on the Sivok-Rangpo railway line project, Sikkim is expected to become a part of the national network by 2024, while the country will get an “infrastructure of strategic importance” in the Himalayan state that borders China.

Passing through mountains, over ravines, and the Teesta river, the under-construction all-weather 45-km rail line from Siliguri in West Bengal to Rangpo in Sikkim will have 14 tunnels and 22 bridges, officials said on Tuesday.

“Work is underway on a war footing but being done with extreme care as the entire project falls in seismic four and five zones. In addition, there is always the threat of landslides and flash floods,” Project Director Mohinder Singh from IRCON International, a central PSU under the Ministry of Railways, said.

Safety protocols are in place and being followed, the official of the Indian Railway Construction (IRCON) International Limited, assured.

He further said that there are also plans to extend the lineup to Gangtok, but that is at a later stage.

There have been crucial breakthroughs in tunnel building and laying of bridges, he told reporters and added that the two-km tunnel (T-14) before the yet-to-be-built Rangpo station has been completed while six are in its final stages (lining work).

“This is an infrastructure of strategic importance as well as of economic importance,” the director said when asked about the project’s significance in view of Sikkim sharing its border with China.

Echoing his views on the significance of the rail line project 41.45 km of which is in West Bengal and 3.51 km in Sikkim, Darjeeling MP Raju Bisht said, “The region (Sikkim and North Bengal) share borders with four countries — Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and China and a part of it is called the chicken’s neck’. This is a very sensitive region.”

“Besides improving connectivity in the region, known for its many tourist destinations, it will be a major boost from the security point facilitating troop movement,” the MP said.

From Siliguri to Rangpo, a car journey takes around three hours in view of the heavy traffic and the narrowness of the road that runs along the Teesta, but the rail project will cut it short to one hour, according to the officials.

“The project is a major push towards better rail connectivity to border states. Once the project is completed, it will improve transportation of goods, particularly essential items, which otherwise during inclement weather is hampered because of landslides,” the project director said.