Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off two new trains and announced the extension of additional two trains to remote parts of North East on Thursday. A new Vistadome coach in Budgam-Banihal train in Jammu and Kashmir was also flagged off.
The new trains were flagged off between Guwahati and Dullabcherra in Assam as well as a rapid transit Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (or DEMU train) between Agartala and Sabroom in Tripura.
Also, Guwahati-Secunderabad Express has been extended up to Silchar in Assam and the Kamakhya-Lokmanya Tilak Express, which earlier operated between Mumbai to Guwahati has been extended up to Tripura’s capital Agartala. Agartala is at a distance of 535 kms from Guwahati.
“Extension of Train No. 12514/12515 Guwahati-Secunderabad Express [weekly] up to Silchar will provide direct connectivity between Barak Valley in Silchar and Secunderabad. It will benefit people of lower Assam and areas bordering Barak Valley,” Mr. Vaishnaw said. The regular service of the train will commence from October 21 from Secunderabad.
The introduction of Train No. 15617/15618 Dullabcherra-Guwahati Tri-weekly Train will provide direct connectivity between remote area of Dullabcherra and Guwahati benefiting students, businessmen and traders of Dullabcherra, Union Railways Ministry said in a statement.
Similarly, extension of Train No. 12519/12520 Kamakhya- Lokmanya Tilak Express (weekly) up to Agartala will be the direct train service between the capital cities of Agartala and Mumbai. “It will benefit people in the region, traders and patients in Tripura who travel to Mumbai for medical treatment purpose. The regular service of the train up to Agartala will commence from October 22 from Mumbai,” Mr. Vaishnaw stated.
Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam’s Chief Minister, “Assam is getting extension of one train to Barak valley, one train being extended to Agartala, one train is being introduced to the remote area of Dullabcherra.”
The introduction of Train No. 07688/07687 Agartala-Sabroom DEMU train will benefit people from the remote areas of the state and will enhance connectivity with the state capital, Agartala. It will also boost tourism in the state, the statement further said.
Mr. Vaishnaw said, “Railways have allotted the annual budget of around ₹10,269 crores for the North East, while earlier it was around ₹2,122 Crores. Two Vande Bharat Trains are also planned for North East. In J&K, development work has been completed on Chenab Bridge, Anji Bridge, tunnels have been completed except on some portion.”
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said, “The Indian Railways is also planning to connect Agartala to Kolkata by a train which will run through Bangladesh. This will lead to shortening the distance between Agartala and Kolkata by 1,000 kms. The planned train route is 500 kms, while the current road route is 1,500 kms.”
