Rail transport in Bhutan

There is no rail transport in Bhutan, but several rail lines have been planned.

Planned

Bhutan and India signed a memorandum of understanding in January 2005 to connect Bhutan with the Indian Railways network with 5 new routes in Bhutan.^[1][2] Additionally, the Indian Military has also identified more routes to complement the India-China Border Roads (ICBR) and negate the Siliguri Corridor's geostrategic vulnerability, all of which will be 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge.

Note: Rail lines listed west to east.

Route	Length (km)	Future Extensions	Operational (date)	Major tunnels # & names	Major bridges # & names	Conceived by	Status/Comments
Gangtok-Nathang-Haa-Paro-Thimphu line		Ext-1: Yongphulla Airport-Bathpalathang Airport-Lingmethang(Mongar)-Thimphu-Paro International Airport line. Also see Ext-3 for Paro-Doklam-Lingzhi Yügyal Dzong connection.	N (2027?)			Indian Military	Gangtok-Nathang-Haa-Paro International Airport-Thimphu.[3]
Banarhat–Samtse line	18 km	Ext-2: Samtse-Nathu La line	N (2025?)			2005 Indo-Bhutan MoU	Banarhat–Samtse.[4][2]
Hasimara–Pasakha-Phuentsholing line	18 km	Ext-3: Phuentsholing-Paro International Airport-Doklam-Lingzhi Yügyal Dzong line.	N (2025?)			2005 Indo-Bhutan MoU	Hasimara Airforce Station–Pasakha-Phuentsholing. This line has the first priority to be constructed due to high passenger and goods transportation.[5][2]
Kokrajhar–Gelephu line (Gelephu Airport)	70 km		N (2025?)			2005 Indo-Bhutan MoU	Kokrajhar of New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section–Gelephu.[2] survey completed in April 2023 and construction will be completed by 2026 (aug 2023 update).[6]
Pathsala–Naglam line	40 km	Ext-4: Naglam-Lingmethang(Mongar)-Lhuntse-Rinchen Bumpa line with spur to Trashiyangtse in northeast. Also see Ext-1 for connection in east to Yongphulla Airport (& Lumla-Tawang).	N (2025?)			2005 Indo-Bhutan MoU	Pathsala–Naglam.[2]
Rangla–Darranga–Samdrup Jongkhar line	60 km		N (2025?)			2005 Indo-Bhutan MoU	Rangla–Darranga–Samdrup Jongkhar.[2]
Tawang-Trashigang-Yongphulla line		See Ext-1 (Thimphu-Tawang).	N (2027?)			Indian Military	Tawang-Lumla-Trashigang-Yongphulla Airport.[3]

See also

• Bhutan
  • Transport in Bhutan

• Neighbourhood connectivity
  • China–India railway
  • Geostrategic railways under-construction in India
  • India-China Border roads and rails
  • North Eastern Railway Connectivity Project
  • Rail transport in Sikkim