Bogibeel bridge, the longest rail cum road bridge connecting the north and south banks of river Brahmaputra will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 December. Built in the east of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, the much-awaited bridge will be open for business on the Good Governance Day, that also happens to be the birth anniversary of late AB Vajpayee.

The bridge will help provide better and faster connectivity to the northeastern states of India. The 4.94 km bridge is 20 km away from the Arunachal Pradesh and Assam border. It will connect Assam's Dhemaji district with Dibrugarh district with two railway lines on the lower deck and a three-lane road bridge on the top.

Presently, a train journey between Arunachal Pradesh and Dibrugarh requires a 500 km detour through Guwahati. After the bridge opens, the distance will cut to less than 100 km.

Recently, a loaded freight train was run on the Bogibeel bridge and the video was shared by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.

The foundation for the bridge was laid back in January 1997 by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and the construction only started in April 2002 when former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated the construction work. After missing several deadlines, the project was completed by the Modi government in its bid it improve infrastructure in the North Eastern states.