Arunachal gets first Shatabdi

Bijay Sankar Bora

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Tribune News Service

Guwahati, May 7

Arunachal Pradesh today got its first Shatabdi Express with Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu flagging off the train service between Naharlagun (in Arunachal Pradesh) and Guwahati in Assam.

Prabhu along with Arunachal CM Pema Khandu flagged off the Shatabdi Express (No. 12088/12087) electronically through a video link from the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) headquarters at Maligaon, in Guwahati. Khandu and other dignitaries were present at the Naharlagun railway station during the flagging-off ceremony.

Prabhu also laid the foundation stone of a 26-km-long gauge railway line from Murkongselek in Assam to Pasighat in Arunachal and announced commencement of surveys for seven new broad gauge railway lines in Arunachal.

The Shatabdi Express will provide a speedier and comfortable connectivity between the state capital cities of Assam and Arunachal. It will cover the distance in six hours.

It will start from Naharlagun at 5 am to arrive Guwahati at 11 am every Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. From Guwahati, it will leave at 3.20 pm to arrive Naharlagun at 9.20 pm every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Prabhu said the Railways had accelerated its developmental work and in the past three years alone had invested around Rs 3.5 lakh crore on various projects for capacity enhancement. He said currently projects worth about Rs 90,000 crore were being executed in the northeast region.

“Indian Railway is committed to not only providing better connectivity but also better passenger experience,” he said, announcing that the Railways will soon launch an application for mobile platform to address passenger grievances.

Calling the occasion historic, Khandu said the railway connectivity would open new vistas for economic development in the state. He hoped that the connectivity would boost tourism, increase agriculture and horticulture activities, and support other developmental activities such as hydropower.