Sikkim is expected to become a part of the national network by 2024 with over 50 per cent work done on the Sivok-Rangpo railway line project, while the country will get an “infrastructure of strategic importance” in the Himalayan state that borders China. The rail line project – 41.45 km of which is in West Bengal and 3.51 km in Sikkim, Darjeeling. Passing through mountains, over ravines and the Teesta river, the under-construction all-weather 45-km rail line from Siliguri in West Bengal to Rangpo in Sikkim will have 14 tunnels and 22 bridges. Safety protocols are in place and being followed, the official of the Indian Railway Construction (IRCON) International Ltd, assured. As per reports, there are also plans to extend the line up to Gangtok, but that is at a later stage.There have been crucial breakthroughs in tunnel building and laying of bridges and the two-km tunnel (T-14) before the yet-to-be built Rangpo station has been completed while six are in its final stages (lining work).