Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says the new bullet train route to Guwahati requires complex engineering. The project must bridge the Siliguri Corridor, a tight strip of land often called the Chicken's Neck. This area measures roughly 22 km wide at its broadest point. Some sections shrink to only 16 km.
Existing roads and rail lines crowd the corridor. Adding high-speed tracks poses a massive logistics test. Sarma confirmed the high-speed line needs a completely separate path from current infrastructure. The state is now weighing underground tunnels against elevated railway tracks. "Whether the Chicken's Neck will be crossed through underground or overground, all these details have to be worked out," Sarma said.
Building specialized tunnels or raised tracks will inflate the project budget. Sarma plans to meet with Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Delhi soon. He will push for technical clarity on the route. The proposal previously faced feasibility concerns before Sarma lobbied Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Railway Ministry to approve the extension.
Sarma remains optimistic despite the lack of a current construction timeline. "The first good news is that now Guwahati has been put on the map. But the details have to be worked out," he noted. The government continues to review final alignment options to connect the Northeast to the high-speed rail network.
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