Agartala to get its first train service by June
March 29th, 2008 - 4:56 pm ICT by admin
Agartala, March 29 (IANS) Tripura’s capital Agartala will become the second state capital in the northeast after Guwahati to come on the country’s railway map by June, an official said here Saturday. “The first ever train service to Agartala is all set to begin by June as the Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) in Tripura is working overtime to meet the deadline,” said B. Chowdhury, NFR chief engineer.
The prime minister had earlier declared the railway project in Tripura a national project.
“The NFR has so far spent Rs.7.60 billion to connect Agartala by rail and three big tunnels had to be built - Longtharai valley, Baramura and Atharamura hills in Dhalai and west Tripura districts,” Chowdhury told journalists.
The 1,962-metre Longtharai tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in eastern India.
He said the NFR would also start work to lay new track in the 110-km Agartala-Sabroom line by January next year after completing the final location survey this year.
Approximately 1,200 acres of land would be required for the Rs.8.13 billion project to connect Tripura’s southern border town Sabroom by rail.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said: “If the Indian Railways extends its line up to Sabroom, it will be very easy to connect with the Chittagong international port in Bangladesh, which is just 75 km from there.
“After extending the railway line to Sabroom, Tripura and the entire northeast would be linked with Southeast Asia very easily.”
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Tags: chief engineer, chief minister, chittagong, chowdhury, eastern india, first train, guwahati, indian railways, location survey, manik, nfr, railway line, railway project, railway tunnel, rs 8, sarkar, southeast asia, southern border town, train service, west tripura