Guwahati–Lumding section (including Chaparmukh-Silghat Town & Chaparmukh-Mairabari branch lines)
Chaparmukh Junction an important railway station on Guwahati–Lumding section
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	Assam
Termini	Guwahati Lumding
Service
Operator(s)	Northeast Frontier Railway zone
History
Opened	1900 (1900)
Technical
Line length	181 km (112 mi)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Old gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
Electrification	Ongoing
Route map km New Bongaigaon–Guwahati section 0 Guwahati 4 New Guwahati 5 Noonmati 10 Satgaon Army Halt 8 Narangi 14 Panikhaiti 19 Thakurkuchi 26 Panbari 33 Digaru Kamalajori 010 38 0 Tetelia Assam Meghalaya 45 Kamrup Khetri Byrnihat 022 51 Barahu under construction ↑ planned ↓ 56 Jagi Road Sohkhwai 032 64 Aujuri Lailad 040 70 Sonuabori Nonghpoh 048 75 Dharamtul Mawkyndah 054 82 Thekeraguri Umtsaor 063 90 Chaparmukh Junction Nongseter 071 Kyrdemkulai 084 94 Raha Umroi 097 102 Phulaguri Umpling 109 107 Bebejia Mawshaepah 121 109 Senchoa Junction Shillong 130 115 Haibargaon Nagaon 116 125 Rupahigaon Puranigudam 126 131 Tarabari Samaguri 135 135 Juria Amoni 143 139 Dagaon Salona 148 144 Balikotia Salona-Khumtai line (planned) 0 147 Batadrawa Kallyden Siding 153 153 Dhing Bazar Solal Siding 158 156 Dhing Jakhalabandha 163 159 Mairabari Silghat Town 171 planned bridge over Brahmaputra River Silghat Town–Dekargaon line (planned) 0 99 Laopani 107 Kampur 118 Jamunamukh 128 Jugijan 135 Hojai 142 Dhalpukhuri 149 Lanka 154 Habaipur 165 Lamsakhang 171 Patharkhola Lumding–Sabroom section 179 Lumding Junction Lumding–Dibrugarh section km km Source: Indian Railway Time Table

The Guwahati–Lumding section is a broad-gauge railway line connecting Guwahati and Lumding Junction. The 179-kilometre (111 mi) long railway line operates in the Indian state of Assam. It is under the jurisdiction of Northeast Frontier Railway zone.

History

In the pre-partition days, Assam was linked to Chittagong 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. Assam Bengal Railway started construction of a railway track on the eastern side of Bengal in 1891. A 150-kilometre long (93 mi) track between Chittagong and Comilla was opened to traffic in 1895. The Comilla-Akhaura-Kulaura-Badarpur section was opened in 1896–1898 and finally extended to Lumding in 1903.^[1][2][3] 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 to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge in 1994.^[4]

Line doubling

The Guwahati-Lumding-Dibrugarh line was proposed to be doubled in the Railway Budget for 2011–12.^[5]

The 44.92 km (28 mi) long Lumding-Hojai doubling project was sanctioned in 2012–13. The Lumding Hojai patch doubling was completed on 10 July 2019.^[6] The 30.50 km (19 mi) long New Guwahati-Digaru doubling project was completed in 2012–13.^[7][8]

Railway reorganisation

The Assam Railway and Trading Company Limited was merged with Assam Bengal Railway in 1945.^[9] With partition, Assam Bengal Railway was split up and railway lines in Assam became Assam Railway.^[10] 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.^[11] Northeast Frontier Railway was created with a part of NE Railway in 1958.^[10]

References