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Our Correspondent
Imphal, Oct. 13 (EMN): The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) on Thursday extended the first direct passenger train service called Jan Shatabdi Express(12097/12098) connecting Tripura’s Agartala and Khongsang covering a stretch of about 55 km, according to official sources.
President of India Droupadi Murmu in presence of Chief Minister of Tripura Prof. (Dr.) Manik Saha, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik flagged off the train at Agartala Railway station around 9:25 am on Thursday. The train reached Jiribam, Manipur’s first Railway station around 3 pm and reached Khongang around 5 pm.
The train will run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between Agartala and Khongsang station which has been constructed as part of the on-going 111 km Jiribam – Imphal new line project. This will be the first train service for this newly constructed station.
Moreover, a Vistadome coach has also been added in this train. The new line in Manipur state is an Engineering marvel,says an official of Railways. Construction works involve 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 the Vistadome coach. This train will connect people of three Northeast states Tripura, Manipur and Assam boosting economic activities.
The commencement of these train services from Agartala is a major step towards improving connectivity and facilitating development of Tripura and its neighbouring states.
It may be mentioned here that NFR has recently connected Nagaland with Arunachal Pradesh by a direct train service on August 26 this year to further boost the people-to-people connectivity and local economy in the NE region.