GANGTOK: The 52-km-long rail line connecting Sevoke in West Bengal with Rangpo in Sikkim is now projected to be operational by December 2023, Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) General Manager Anshul Gupta said on Saturday.
Construction of the rail line, which will have six stations, started in 2009 when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the railway minister.
It was initially scheduled to be completed by 2015 but has been facing challenges due to difficult terrain and land-related hiccups, which caused a delay in the project.
The estimated cost of the project has also increased from Rs 1,300 crore to over Rs 5,000 crore.
An official of the Indian Railway Construction Company, which is implementing the project, said that 30 per cent of the work has been completed so far.
Gupta had met Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang earlier this week and discussed the ongoing project.