The Tezpur-Balipara Light Railway was built as a 20 mi (32 km) long, 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) narrow gauge railway line between Tezpur and Balipara in 1895 with the primary aim of transporting tea from upcountry estates to the river port of Tezpur for onward shipment down the Brahmaputra to Calcutta.

[3][4] Tracks were laid at Rangiya as a part of the extension of Eastern Bengal Railway's main metre gauge line from Sarbhog to Amingaon in 1909.

[8] The Harmuti-Naharlagun branch line was announced in 2008 and was opened in 2014 as a part of the Rangiya-Murkongselek gauge conversion project.

This was declared a national project considering that it connected Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, with the Indian railway network.

[10] Three national projects of strategic importance are proposed in this section primarily focusing on providing connectivity with Arunachal Pradesh.

A broad gauge railway track is proposed from the existing rail head at Bhalukpong to Tawang via Tenga & Dirang.