Railway Board to discuss bifurcation of NF Railway: Prabhu

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today said the Railway Board will discuss the bifurcation of the Northeast Frontier Railway.
"We will discuss it. We will definitely consider," Prabhu said when asked about any plans to discuss bifurcation of NFR in the Board.
"It is a broader issue of demography and other things. It takes time, but we will definitely look into it," the Minister said at a press conference here.
There has been a demand to bifurcate the NFR by excluding West Bengal and Bihar to focus only the North Eastern region.
Talking about Indian Railways' plans for the region, Prabhu said the organisation has earmarked a capex of Rs 8,000 crore in 2017-18, up from Rs 7,100 crore spent during last fiscal.

"We also have plans to award projects worth Rs 13,000 crore in this financial year in North East," he added.
The Minister further informed that around 1,000 km of broad gauge lines have been commissioned during last three years.