Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gifted Tripura with the HIRA Model as a part of the Act East Policy. This has been reflected in the development and improvement of the state’s railway connectivity. The state government has been able to successfully secure the necessary support from the central government to enhance the connectivity system. The modern Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) rake has been added to the Agartala-Deoghar Express train as a part of this development, said Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha while flagging off the Agartala-Deoghar LHB rake express train at Agartala railway station on Saturday.
Speaking at the function, the Chief Minister said that Indian Railways has added LHB rake to the 15626/15625 Agartala-Deoghar-Agartala Express train keeping in view the comfort of the passengers. This will increase the number of passengers on the one hand and make the journey more safe and comfortable for the passengers on the other.
The LHB design coaches have a power van cum guard van and a pantry car. In addition, the number of passengers will also increase in general class including AC three tier.
At the function, the Chief Minister thanked the Prime Minister and the Union Railway Minister on behalf of the people of the state for this initiative. He said that at present this train leaves Agartala station for Deoghar at 7 pm every Saturday. The train covers a distance of 1,472 kilometers in just 35 hours.
The Chief Minister said that Indian Railways is constantly striving to make passenger amenities, safety and travel services comfortable. The addition of new modern LHB rakes is an important step towards modernization of railway connectivity in the northeastern states.
Due to the sincere efforts of the Prime Minister, now 13 express and 5 local trains are running in the state. Besides, in November 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina virtually inaugurated the trial run of freight trains on the Agartala-Akhaura railway line. On that day, the first phase trial run of freight trains was successfully completed from Gangasagar to Nischintapur station in India.
The trial run of this freight train from Nischintapur station to Agartala station in the state was completed on January 11 this year.
The Chief Minister said that with the sincere cooperation of the Central Government, there has been a lot of improvement in the communication system by road, rail and air in the state. In the next few days, if the Maitri Setu is opened, Tripura will become the gateway to Southeast Asia.
The Ministry of Railways has allocated Rs 97 crore for the modernization of three stations in the state – Dharmanagar, Kumar Ghat and Udaipur under the Amrit Bharat Station project. Besides, the work of modernization of Agartala railway station is going on at a cost of Rs 235 crore.
Prem Ranjan Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager, Lumding also spoke at the function.
