Dimapur-Kohima railway half built: what's left before trains reach Kohima

The railway line meant to bring trains to Kohima for the first time is now half built, officials say. Its completion date is still December 2029, almost 23 years after the project was sanctioned.

A joint team of Nagaland government officials and Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) engineers inspected the Dimapur-Kohima New Railway Line on Saturday (November 14). A Pongshi Phom, the state government's Advisor for Airway and Railway, said afterwards that the project had reached 50% physical progress and 45.98% financial progress by October 31, 2026. Spending so far stands at Rs 7,176.48 crore. The Morung Express, Eastern Mirror, Hub News and Nagaland.News reported the figures.

What the inspection found

The team visited work sites at Zubza, Piphema, Pherima and Molvom, all on the unfinished hill stretch between Molvom and the outskirts of Kohima. It looked at proposed station sites, tunnel portals, bridges and the places where track is still to be laid. Besides Phom, the team included Thsuvisie Phoji, Additional Secretary of the state's Aircell; Myingthungo Ababe Ezung, OSD in the Transport Department; and NFR Deputy Chief Engineer Harji Mal Meena.

According to the figures released after the visit, the 78.42-km line needs:

• 20 tunnels: 8 are finished. The longest is about 6.62 km, and there are also emergency escape tunnels.
• 29 major bridges: 15 are finished. The longest, Bridge No. 154, is 551.60 metres.
• 151 minor bridges: 138 are finished.
• 8 stations: the release says four, at Dhansiri, Dhansiripar, Shokhuvi and Molvom, are complete.

The numbers do not quite match NFR's own published project note. That note lists 27 major and 149 minor bridges, puts total tunnel length at 31,169 metres, and counts three finished stations (Dhansiri, Shokhuvi and Molvom). It names all eight stations as Dhansiri, Dhansiripar, Shokhuvi, Molvom, Pherima, Piphema, Menguzuma and Zubza. The gaps are small but suggest design changes over time.

Why the second half is the hard half

Most of the line that is easy to build is already open. NFR commissioned the 16.5-km Dhansiri-Shokhuvi section in October 2021 and the 14.64-km Shokhuvi-Molvom section in March 2025. Molvom started handling freight in September 2025. Together that is about 31 km, or roughly 40% of the route.

The remaining 47-odd km, from Molvom up to Zubza, is where the hills begin. Almost all the unfinished tunnels and major bridges are on this stretch. The full line has about 31 km of tunnels, so close to two-fifths of it will run underground. That explains why the spending curve trails physical progress: the costliest structures are still ahead.

A rough calculation from the official numbers shows the scale. If Rs 7,176.48 crore is 45.98% of the money, the full project would cost around Rs 15,600 crore. That is NEInsider's own estimate. No revised total was given on Saturday.

The update also left out one thing commuters care about: a timetable for each section. The Morung Express had reported in 2025 that the Molvom-Pherima stretch was due to open in October 2026, Nagaland.News noted. Saturday's account gave no new date for that section, and nothing showed it had opened.

A long road for a short line

The project was sanctioned in May 2007, but construction only started in 2015-16. For decades Nagaland's only railway station was Dimapur, on the main line through the plains. Shokhuvi, in Chümoukedima district, became the state's second station when the first section opened in 2021, and Molvom the third in 2025. NFR says regular passenger trains now run from Shokhuvi to Guwahati and to Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh.

Kohima, the capital, still depends entirely on the road. The Dimapur-Kohima highway carries almost all goods and people coming up from the plains. Beyond Kohima, NH-2 to Imphal is vulnerable: this week a suspected IED blast damaged a retaining wall near Khuzama, and the sinking zone at Phesama has forced one-way traffic in set hours. A rail line would give the capital a second lifeline for fuel, food grain and building material, and a cheaper way for students and patients to travel to Dimapur and Guwahati.

Zubza to Imphal: an early idea

Phom said NFR is also looking at extending the line from Zubza towards Imphal, with survey work and talks with consultants under way. No cost, route or timeline was given, so for now this is a plan on paper. Manipur's rail link is coming from the south, through Jiribam. In Mizoram, the network is being pushed past Sairang towards the Myanmar border, with 20 stations planned on a 230-km line.

What to watch

• A section-wise opening schedule, starting with Molvom-Pherima, which was due in October 2026.
• Progress on the 12 unfinished tunnels, including the 6.62-km longest bore.
• Any revised cost estimate, and whether the Zubza-Imphal survey turns into a sanctioned project.