After a gap of 100 years, Nagaland got its second railway station. The Donyi Polo Express from Shokhuvi Railway Station was flagged off by Neiphiu Rio, the Chief Minister.
The train will run between Guwahati in Assam and Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh on a daily basis. The train will also extend its services till Shokhuvi, located just a few kilometres from Dimapur.
Along with this, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh will be directly linked by train service with the extensions from Shokhuvi Railway Station to Donyi Polo Express.
As per media reports, the chief minister has requested railway officials to work on the Dimapur Railway Station and further expand and reach new heights. The main aim behind the building of the railway state was not just for the people of Nagaland but to also help the neighbouring states of Manipur and Assam.
According to media reports, Anshul Gupta, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) General Manager, said that this new avenue of Indian Railways working with NFR will help in connecting different capital states of the northeastern states. This new railway will also help in exploring different parts of the Northeastern states in a time-bound manner.
For the 90-km-long board gauge route from Dhanisiri in Assam to Zubza in Kohima district of Nagaland, the foundation stone was laid in 2016 and the construction is in process. The earlier deadline was 2020, but it has been extended to 2024. The line is also expected to extend to Aizawl via New Kohima and Imphal.
The first railway station was set up at Dimapur Railway Station which was located in the commercial hub of the state and was inaugurated in 1903.
