GAURIPUR

Maligaon, 14^th April, 2023:

On this auspicious day of Bohag Bihu, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated 249 kms of Double line, 86 km of New Line and 512 kms of Electrified railway track of Assam to the Nation during a programme held at Guwahati o­n 14^th April, 2023. Shri Gulab Chand Kataria, Hon’ble Governor of Assam; Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Assam; Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Hon’ble Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush; Shri Rameswar Teli, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Labour & Employment and Shri Bimal Borah, Hon’ble Minister, Govt. of Assam were also present o­n the occasion.

Speaking o­n the occasion Hon’ble Prime Minister mentioned that there was always the issue of lack of physical connectivity in the Northeast, which is being addressed by the present government by laying emphasis o­n road, rail and air connectivity. During last 9 years broad gauge trains reached Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura. New rail lines are being laid in the Northeast three times faster than before, and the doubling of rail lines taking place at almost 10 times faster than earlier. The Prime Minister highlighted that 5 railway projects that have been inaugurated today worth more than 6,000 crore rupees will accelerate the development of a large part of the region including Assam. The Prime Minister further added that rail has reached a large part of Assam for the first time and the doubling of rail lines will provide easy connectivity to Assam as well as Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland. He also noted that traveling to places of faith and tourism will now become easy.

These newly constructed lines will change the rail transportation scenario o­n this area. More and more trains including trains carrying essential commodities will be able to reach the Northeastern states in a much lesser time from production centers spreading all over the country. The Digaru to Lumding 147 km long double line section was constructed at a cost of Rs. 2,538 crs. Construction of 17 Major Bridges, 106 Minor Bridges and 07 Road Over Bridges are involved. This section passes through the Kamrup (Metro), Marigaon and Nagaon districts of Assam. It helped in reducing the operational constraints of the route which is responsible for all train movements towards states like Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura apart from South and Upper Assam areas.

The New Bongaigaon – Dhupdhara 102 km long section was constructed as part of the o­ngoing New Bongaigaon – Goalpara-Kamakhya 176 km long doubling project. Construction of 35 Major Bridges, 228 Minor Bridges and 24 Road Under Bridges are involved in this section. The project cost was Rs. 1,962 crs. Passing through the Bongaigaon and Goalpara districts of Assam, it will be beneficial for operating trains towards NE region.

Gauripur – Abhayapuri 86 km new line section is part of the New Mainaguri (in West Bengal) to Jogighopa (in Assam) 279 km long new Railway line project. It passes through 5 stations namely Alamganj, Bagribari, Bilasipara, Chapar and Bechimari. With the completion of this section, population of a huge area falling under the Dhubri and Bongaigaon districts of Assam got the benefit of Railway service for the very first time. Constructed at a cost of Rs. 1,267 cr, it involves construction of 30 Major Bridges, 305 Minor Bridges, 03 tunnels, 133 Road Under Bridges and 02 Road Over Bridges.

As part of the Indian Railways ambitious plan to become the largest “GREEN RAILWAYS” in the world, it plans to become a zero carbon emission network by 2030. Newly electrified 381 km Raninagar Jalpaiguri – Guwahati and 131 km Chaparmukh – Senchoa & Senchoa – Mairabari sections will lead to seamless connectivity of trains to and from Northeast to various metro cities like New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad etc. Running of heavy hauled goods train towards Northeast became possible. Train operation cost also reduced significantly due to savings o­n fossil fuel consumption.

In another step towards providing better rail connectivity to N E Region, Alipurduar Division of N. F. Railway has started operation of goods train through the newly constructed New Coochbehar – Gauripur – Abhayapuri - Goalpara section, which is a part of the New Maynaguri – Jogighopa new line (226.83 km) project.

A rake carrying 2652 tonnes of milk products, pulses, salt and plastic goods loaded from Linch, Gujarat has been transported to Azara near Guwahati through this route. Again o­n 19^th January, 2022 a cement loaded rake for Guwahati carrying 2,579 tonnes of cement has been transported through this new route.

CRS (Commissioner of Railway Safety) had earlier granted authorization for operations of trains through Bilasipara - Abhayapuri (47.65 kms) section with a maximum permissible speed of 90 kmph. By commissioning of section from Bilasipara to Abhayapuri, train services can now run from Gauripur to Abhayapuri covering Dhubri and Bongaigaon districts of Assam.

Newly commissioned Gauripur - Abhayapuri route will provide better connectivity and access to the people of this region in Northeast. Running of goods train in new BG section will also help in reducing congestion and faster movement of goods train in other congested section.