BY TC News Desk
Agartala, October 19: The people of Tripura have a reason to celebrate as the Kamakhya-Lokmanya Tilak Express train service has been extended to Agartala from today. The express train will connect Agartala and Mumbai, covering a distance of about 3,500 km in 55 hours. The train service was flagged off by Chief Minister Prof (Dr) Monik Saha at Agartala railway station and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Guwahati through video conference.
The train will leave Agartala for Mumbai every Thursday at 6 am and reach Mumbai on Saturday afternoon. The train will leave Mumbai again on Sunday morning at 7:30 am and reach Agartala on Tuesday evening. The train will have stoppages at various stations in Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and other states.
The Chief Minister said that the extension of the express train service to Agartala was a long-standing demand of the people of Tripura and thanked the Ministry of Railways for fulfilling it. He also said that the train service will benefit the people of North Eastern region including Tripura and even Bangladesh in terms of medical, education and business.
The Union Railway Minister said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given special importance to the development of the North-Eastern states and visited them about 60 times in the last nine years. He said that the Ministry of Railways has allocated Rs 10,270 crore in this year’s budget for the rapid development of the railway communication system in the North-Eastern region. He also said that plans have been made to develop 60 stations in the North-East as world-class stations and work has already started for 37 stations.
The event also witnessed the inauguration of additional demo train services between Agartala and Saram and escalator at Agartala railway station. The Chief Minister said that the development work of Udaipur, Dharmanagar and Kumarghat railway stations is going on under the Amrit Bharat project. He also said that a DPR of Rs 235.45 crore has been submitted to make Agartala railway station an international standard station. He also said that the Agartala-Akhaura railway project, which will connect Kolkata via Dhaka, is progressing at a fast pace.
He also appealed to all the officials and employees engaged in electricity supplying section to provide uninterrupted power supply during the Durga Puja festival and promised to reward them for their service.
The event was attended by Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik, Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury, MLA Mina Rani Sarkar and other dignitaries.
