The Supreme Court of India approved the project in February 2016 with strict guidelines of the National Wildlife Board that cleared the project in June 2015 but ordered restricted speed, wireless animal tracking sensors and allowed digging of tunnels only during daytime. The railway line is needed for security and socio-economic reasons. The railway line will help troops and armaments move faster towards the Indo-Tibet border. Railway Board chairman visited and met the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) officials on 2 March 2018 to discuss the commencement of construction of the track and tunnels. In August 2019, the railway line up to Rangpo was expected to be completed in 2021.Financial Express. Indian Railways new Sivok-Rangpo rail project: Travel from West Bengal to Sikkim in just 2 hours. (30 August 2019). In the second phase the line will be extended up to Gangtok.
