President of India Droupadi Murmu, who was on a two visit to Tripura flagged off the Agartala – Jiribam – Agartala Jan Shatabdi Express up to Khongsang in Manipur , Guwahati – Kolkata – Guwahati Express up to Agartala from Agartala Railway station on Thursday.
Chief Minister Prof. (Dr.) Manik Saha, , Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, , Union Minster of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik, Transport Minister Pranajit Singha Roy, MP Rebati Tripura, MLA Mimi Majumdar, Anshul Gupta, General Manager of N. F. Railway along with other dignitaries were present in the colourful programme.
The Agartala – Jiribam – Agartala Jan Shatabdi Express, which was the first direct train service connecting Tripura and Manipur has now been extended up to Khongsang in Manipur, which is a stretch of about 55 km. The train will run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday between Agartala and Khongsang. Khongsang station has been constructed as part of the on going Jiribam – Imphal new line project. This will be the first train service for this newly constructed station.
People of a vast area of Manipur will be able to travel by train for the first time for their medical, educational and other needs. Train journey travel time will be less than half, as the journey time will be around 07 hrs covering a distance of 300 Km against about 15 hrs or so by road. The Jan Shatabdi Express will be having new Linke Hofmann Busch coaches with latest amenities for passengers. Moreover, a Vistadome coach has also been added in this train. The new line in Manipur state is an Engineering marvel. Construction works involves multiple tunnels and bridges in tough terrains. The entire route passes through very scenic hilly areas. This can be visualized by the passengers/tourists through Vistadome coach. This train will connect people of three Northeast states Tripura, Manipur and Assam boosting economic activities.
The Guwahati – Kolkata – Guwahati Express which used to run between Kolkata and Guwahati, has now been extended up to Agartala with a new train Agartala – Kolkata – Agartala Express once a week. The train will run on Wednesday between Agartala and Kolkata. This service will connect the capital of Tripura, Agartala to Guwahati and other states. This train service will benefit people travelling between Agartala and Kolkata via Guwahati.
It may be mentioned here that, N. F. Railway only recently connected Nagaland with Arunachal Pradesh by a direct train service on August 26 to further boost the people-to-people connectivity and local economy in NE region.
The commencement of these train service from Agartala is a major step towards improving connectivity and facilitating development of Tripura and its neighbouring states. It will not only enable passengers from Tripura, Manipur & Mizoram to travel for work, education and healthcare needs, but also act as a means of strengthening the people – to – people linkages and cultural bonding between the people of Agartala, Manipur and other connecting states. The train will also act as intercity service between Agartala & Guwahati.The new line connectivity will result in increased socio-economic activity in the state of Manipur. This will lead to easy movement of material and passengers throughout India and bring more employment opportunities for the people of state.
