Chief Minister Professor Dr. Manik Saha this evening held a meeting with Ansul Gupta, General Manager, North East Frontier Railway, on various issues related to the state’s railways. The meeting discussed the development of railway communication system of the state and the progress of various projects, including the launch of double lane trucks from Lamding to Agartala. GMMNF Railway said in the meeting that necessary steps and initiatives are being taken by North-East Frontier Railway in all these matters. The necessary survey work for the construction of double lane track from Dharmanagar via Agartala to Bilonia has already been completed and sent to the Railway Board for approval. It may be noted that during the recent visit of the Chief Minister to Delhi, discussions were held with the Union Minister of Railways regarding the improvement of railway services in the state, including the increase in infrastructure. said the Chief Minister.
In the meeting, the Chief Minister emphasized on the completion of the Agartala-Akhaura rail link as soon as possible. In this regard, the General Manager of NF Railway said that the work has been resumed at a fast pace after receiving the necessary financial approval for this work. The meeting was informed by the NF Railway that initiatives have been taken to develop the Agartala railway station into an international standard railway station. Such state-of-the-art railway stations will have healthcare facilities, shopping malls, food courts, cultural facilities and other advanced services. Also, the work of extending the rail link up to the integrated check post at Sarum will be undertaken. Chief Minister Prof. Dr. To speed up the supervision of all the projects that are waiting for the approval of the Ministry of Railways and the Railway Board and to finish the work of other rail links quickly. Manik Saha requested NF Railway officials.
In the meeting, the Chief Minister requested to increase the number of more foot over bridges at railway stations in the state. A demand was made by the state government regarding the introduction of accelerators at Agartala and Dharmanagar railway stations. Meanwhile, NF Railway General Manager told the meeting that 2 accelerators have been approved at Agartala railway station. A proposal has been sent to the Railway Board for starting the Agartala-Guwahati inter-city train service and requested for its speedy implementation. It was informed in the meeting that the Agartala-Deoghar rail service will be extended to Sam. Also approved by Railway Board for starting Agartala-Mumbai, Agartala-Jammu and Agartala-Puri rail services. Additionally, initiatives have been taken to transport petro-products by rail from Dharmanagar. As a result of this, on the one hand, the cost of transportation of petroleum products will be reduced as well as the problems caused in the transportation of goods during natural disasters will be avoided.
Construction of 23 Road Over Bridges/ Road Under Bridges has already been approved. The construction of 12 of these is progressing rapidly. The Chief Minister requested to complete the remaining works quickly. The Chief Minister has requested to start the Kisan Rail once a week so that the goods produced in the state including Egg Hatti, Pottery, Handicrafts etc. can be sent abroad. Under the One-Station One-Product scheme, the Railways has taken initiatives to display popular specialty products of the station area at all railway stations in the state. The main objective of the project is to market agriculture, horticulture and horticulture handicrafts and handicrafts by local artisans and entrepreneurs and showcase them to tourists. The Chief Minister has requested the Railway authorities to strengthen the ticketing service by providing necessary ticket counters and required number of staff at all the stations in the state and to pay special attention to ensure that people are not harassed. Necessary proposal for launching vista-dome coaches for development of tourism infrastructure has been sent by the state government and the approval of the railways is assured. The day’s meeting also laid emphasis on providing canopies to the rest of the platforms of all railway stations and improving the cleanliness of railway coaches and improving the quality of passenger services.
The electrification of the railway track from Badarpur to Sabroom will be completed by September 2023, NF Railway informed in the meeting today. Survey work on the Indian side of the Bilonia-Feni rail link has been completed, and has been sent to the Railway Board for approval. Besides, the issue of progress of work on the Bangladesh part has been sent for the intervention of the Ministry of External Affairs on behalf of the Railways. In the meeting organized in the meeting room of the Agartala railway station in the evening, in addition to the officials of the North-East Frontier Railway, the special secretary of the state transport department. Sandeep Rathore and Additional Secretary Subrata Chowdhury were present. Meanwhile, NF along with state chief secretary JK Sinha at Mahakaran this afternoon
General Manager of Railways Ansul Gupta led by a team of other senior officials