[3] The entire district forms the flat alluvial flood plains of mighty rivers.

In 1901 Cooch Behar State Railway built the narrow gauge line from Gitaldaha to Jayanti, near the Bhutan border.

During the British era, there was a railway line linking Assam with Bengal that passed through Sonahat.

[7][8][9] The partition of the country and formation of the erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) led to complete severance of communication with the State of Assam from the rest of India.

The 72 km long Alipurduar-Bamanhat branch line was converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge in 2007.