Barak Valley now connected with Manipur, Tripura and Delhi

Barak Valley now connected with Manipur, Tripura and Delhi

After 69 years of independence, Southern Assam gets direct train to New Delhi. Focus is to connect North-east with rest of India via a robust rail network; said Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister of Railways

Silchar: Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today flagged off three trains, connecting the Barak valley with Manipur and Tripura as well as with Delhi via the rail route.

People of southern Assam’s multi-ethnic Barak valley bordering Bangladesh had a key role in the Independence movement of India. But it took 69 years since Independence to link the land-locked region that not only has three districts of Assam but is also the gateway by road to Tripura, Mizoram and parts of Manipur, to get its first direct trains to the national capital.

Prabhu flagged off the first freight trains from Badarpur in Karimganj district of Assam to Jirania in Agartala and to Jiribam in Manipur by remote from Silchar railway station at 2.58pm. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Saturday flagged off the weekly Silchar-New Delhi Poorvottar Sampark Kranti special express at a colourful ceremony at Silchar railway station in Cachar district of Southern Assam bordering Bangladesh. Prabhu declared that by 2020, all the state capitals of Northeast will have direct rail connectivity to New Delhi.

In a historic moment for the people of Barak valley, he also flagged off the Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express from Silchar to New Delhi at 2.45pm.

Addressing the gathering at the Silchar railway station, Prabhu said all the capitals of the northeastern states would be brought under the railway map by 2020.

“It’s really very unfortunate that the people of this region had to wait for long to get railway services. We are determined to connect all the eight states of the Northeast by 2020. There will be no dearth of funds for the completion of this dream project,” he added.

The railway minister today announced that a passenger train would begin plying between Agartala and Silchar by April 14.

“I also request the NF Railway authorities to start a new Silchar-Guwahati inter-city express before the beginning of the new year. It will be a gift for the people of this valley on the occasion of the Indian New Year,” he added.

Prabhu also announced that he would try his best to run a train from Silchar to Tinsukia and another train from here to either Mumbai or Chennai soon.

The railway minister said the gauge-conversion work on the Agartala-Bangladesh route had also been started.

“We are committed to improve railway infrastructure in the Northeast. We provided an all-time high budget allotment of Rs 5,300 crore to the projects in this region in 2015-16. I assure you that there will be no dearth of funds in this mission,” he added.

He underscored the importance of railway connectivity in bringing development to a particular place. “Better railway connectivity will also provide better marketing facilities and contribute to the socio-economical development of this region,” he said.

With the gauge conversion of the erstwhile metre-gauge line from Arunachal village near Silchar in Assam to Jiribam in Imphal East district of Manipur, one more northeastern state has been brought onto the broad-gauge railway map of India. The revised estimated cost of this line is Rs 252 crore.

The gauge-conversion of Badarpur-Baraigram was sanctioned in 2003-04 and Baraigram to Kumarghat in Tripura in 2007-08 as material modification to Lumding-Silchar gauge conversion project at an estimated cost of Rs 565 crore. The work has been completed in this route.

A trial freight train was taken on the section and then up to Agartala on January 13 this year. To connect the capital of Tripura, the Kumarghat-Agartala broad-gauge line (109km) was sanctioned in 1996-97.

Addressing the people at the inaugural ceremony, Prabhu said that besides Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura, Manipur will be connected in the railway circuit within 2017-19 and Aizawl will also be connected in the same period.

“The North East has the capacity to contribute significantly to the nation’s development. But the region and people living in the states here need better connectivity to stay connected with the rest of India. It is a historic day for the people of the Barak Valley, who have long been waiting for better connectivity. We must turn our promises into performance. All the State capitals of the North East will be connected by railways by 2020,” Prabhu assured the gathering.

Prabhu said efforts will be made to extend rail routes to Kohima, Shillong and Gangtok within 2020 and officials have been instructed to do their best to achieve this mission.

He said that “acche din” for the people of the Barak Valley began with the starting of the Silchar-Guwahati passenger express on November 21 last. He announced that the Silchar-Agartala inter-city express and passenger trains, Silchar-Guwahati and Silchar-Tinsukia train services will be started within April 14. He also said that the Railways is aware of the need for trains from Silchar to Mumbai and Chennai and the issue will be discussed for introducing trains on the said routes at the earliest.

He also assured Silchar MP Susmita Dev that there will be no dearth of funds for ushering in development in the Barak Valley.

BJP MPs from Guwhati and Mangaldai, Bijoya Chakravarty and Ramen Deka, also spoke on the occasion. NF Railway General Manager HK Jaggi delivered the welcome address.

The Minister inaugurated the commercial BG freight trains from Badarpur to Jirania (Tripura) and Badarpur-Jiribam of Manipur this afternoon in the presence of NFR GM HK Jaggi, NFR Chief Administrative Officer Ajit Pandit, Chief Engineer Rabindra Ram and several other NFR officials, besides a huge gathering at the Silchar Railway Station. Immediately after the inauguration, two goods trains started their journey from Badarpur to Jirania and another goods train started moving from Badarpur to Jiribam. A large number of people who gathered at the Badarpur station greeted the Sampark Kranti express as soon as it arrived.