The announcement of the bullet train to Siliguri has left many wondering why West Bengal capital Kolkata has been left out of the reckoning when it comes to a bullet train project. The answer is simple. Geography, strategy and economic growth of the region. With the election of the new BJP government, key infra projects in the region will move faster.
Siliguri, located on the Chicken's Neck (Siliguri Corridor), is a vital transit point and serves as the nation's only land link to India's northeastern states. All road and rail links to the north east pass through this narrow stretch of land. The Union Government says this high-speed line is planned to eventually extend to Guwahati, which will highly improve direct connectivity between mainland India and the 'Ashta Lakshmi' states of the Northeast.
West Bengal is set to benefit from the first high-speed rail service in eastern India linking Siliguri to Varanasi, improving inter-regional mobility and expanding trade and service opportunities. It will take just three hours to travel from Varanasi to Siliguri once this project is completed. And that would open up this strategic location to huge opportunities by connecting important commercial, educational, and medical hubs across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal.
Speaking to NDTV, former Foreign Secretary and BJP MP Harsh Vardhan Shringla had highlighted the importance of the region. Located in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, the area is perhaps one of the most vulnerable regions in the entire country.
Speaking about the strategic Importance of the Varanasi-Siliguri High Speed Rail Corridor, Shringla says, "The Varanasi-Siliguri High-Speed Rail Corridor is a transformative project of paramount strategic importance. It is poised to catalyse seamless connectivity throughout North Bengal and the Northeastern region, while concurrently acting as an essential international crossroads for Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal."
"Functioning in tandem with the Delhi-Varanasi High-Speed Rail network, this initiative reduces travel time between key economic and cultural centres, strengthens freight access and tourism flows, and connects secondary cities along the route. In addition, the Varanasi-Siliguri High-Speed Rail Corridor and a planned 40-km underground rail corridor connecting the North East with the rest of the country," Shringla adds.
"The Varanasi-Siliguri High-Speed Rail spine serves as the critical geographical conduit to India's defensive arc, decisively bridging the existing last-mile supply chain deficiencies. The realisation of this vital corridor is a testament to the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the strategic deployment of national budgetary resources," Shringla says while highlighting the Union Government's commitment to securing the region geopolitically.
"This is a stretch of land that connects the Northeast of the country with the rest of India. It's a very narrow stretch of 22kms. Darjeeling constituency (Lok Sabha) is perhaps the only constituency in the world that has three international borders. It links up with Nepal in the West, Bhutan in the East and Bangladesh in the South. You go a little up to the North and you will also come to the border with China."
"So it is a very sensitive part of our country and there are important security related concerns here, given the strategic nature of the location," Shringla added.
Adding to that are the other measures to boost capacity of the routes passing through the region and a key strategic priority is the planned 40-km underground rail corridor, connecting the North East with the rest of the country.
Plans are on to lay underground railway tracks, and also make the existing tracks four-line, creating additional capacity and ensuring uninterrupted, resilient rail movement through this critical transit zone for both passengers and freight.
The Varanasi-Howrah (Kolkata) railway route runs through areas that are well-served by existing rail-routes and the ongoing upgrades to the Howrah-Delhi main line means that connectivity on that route is much better than perhaps Siliguri.
India's northeast corridor still faces connectivity challenges and once the bullet train connectivity arrives in Siliguri, further expansion can then be planned to Guwahati and India's Northeastern states as well. And its not just trains. Connectivity to the region is getting a major boost. Both the Bagdogra Airport and the New Jalpaiguri Railway station are undergoing major upgrades for capacity expansion.
The New Civil Enclave at Bagdogra Airport, with an investment of Rs 1,549 crore, will feature a 70,390-square-metre terminal designed to accommodate 3,000 peak hour passengers (PHP) and an annual capacity of 10 million passengers. This project includes the construction of an Apron with 10 parking bays for A-321 type aircraft, two link taxiways, and a Multi-Level Car Parking facility.
Backed by a Rs 3,000-crore central government sanction, the airport is all set to become a state-of-art airport by 2027.
The exisiting New Jalpaiguri station is undergoing a major expansion under the Amrit Bharat Stations scheme and the Ministry of Railways has sanctioned the doubling work of the New Jalpaiguri to Siliguri railway line covering a stretch of 7.15 kilometres, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista has announced.
Across the Northeast and adjoining regions, record allocations have triggered new line construction, station redevelopments, and safety enhancements, improving connectivity within remote areas and strengthening links with the rest of the country. These works are expanding access to education, healthcare, tourism, and formal markets, while supporting local enterprises.
The West Bengal government has already handed over 120 acres of land in the key strategic area to the union government for facilitating construction of strategic infrastructure including road infrastructure and border security requirements that will allow the Border Security Force (BSF) to man the porous India-Bangladesh border more effectively.
Local residents are hailing the move as a key driver of growth in the region. "As an entrepreneur from Siliguri, I see the bullet train project as a transformative opportunity for the region. Better connectivity can unlock tourism, trade, investments, jobs, and stronger links with the Northeast. With faster connectivity, Siliguri can move from being a transit city to a powerful growth hub for Eastern India," Sasha Sharma an entrepreneur from Siliguri whose family runs multiple businesses in the area.
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