JAGI ROAD

                           The following additional proactive measures have been taken by the Indian Railways in wake of COVID-19:

1.To discourage unnecessary travel and to prevent the vulnerable category of Senior Citizens from undertaking unnecessary travels, concessional booking of all tickets except Patients, students and Divyangjan category for Unreserved & Reserved segment are being suspended form 00:00 hrs of 20th March till further advisory.

2.As a precautionary measure and to discourage nonessential travel and overcrowding of trains, so far total 155 pairs of low occupancy trains are cancelled up to 31.03.20. NFR has also cancelled 16 pairs of trains with low occupancy(less than 30%). Trains are cancelled keeping in view the availability of alternate trains for passengers and ensuring that no passenger shall remain stranded. Full refund is being given to all the passengers whose train has been cancelled.

3.Indian Railways has also facilitated return of students stranded in Northern part of country due to sudden closure of Educational Institutions to their homes in Southern, North-Eastern and Eastern regions of India.

4.Advisories are being issued to passengers to avoid non-essential train journeys and to ensure that they do not have running fever while they are commencing the journey. At any point of journey if passenger feels that he is having fever, he can contact the Railway Staff for medical attention and further assistance.

5.To avoid unnecessary crowding at Railway Stations in wake of spread of COVID 19, it has been decided to raise the price of Platform Ticket wherever necessary. In NFR platform ticket prices of the following stations have been changed Rs. 50/- viz. Guwahati, Kamakhya, Dimapur, Lumding, Silchar, Rangiya, New Bongaigaon, Barpeta Road, Tinsukia, New Tinsukia, Dibrugarh Town, Dibrugarh, Simaluguri Jn., Mariani Jn., Jorhat Town and all station under Katihar division. Simmilarly price of platform tickets increased to Rs. 30/- in Agartala, Badarpur Jn., Bokajan, Chaparmukh Jn., Dharmanagar, Diphu, Hojai, Jagiroad, Karimganj Jn., Lanka and Sarupathar stations.

6.Regular Announcement are being done o­n PA System of Railway Stations & Trains to sensitize the public about various Do’s & Don’ts highlighting :

a)Keeping hands clean by frequent washing of hands;

b)Maintain social distance & covering the mouth while sneezing and coughing;

c)Precautions to be taken if o­ne has running fever-(don’t travel and report immediately to the Doctor);

d)Not spitting anywhere in the public place and Railway premises and

e)Avoid overcrowding & to ensure distancing between passengers in trains including local passenger trains.

Shri Rajen Gohain, Minister of State of Railways today said that survey for construction of a new bridge over river Brahmaputra near Silghat is nearing completion and o­nce the survey is complete it can be considered for inclusion in the Budget. The Minister was speaking in the ceremonial function for flagging off of a new train from Silghat (Assam) to Kolkata signalling transformation of the middle Assam areas through improved communication.

Shri Keshab Mahanta, Minister of Water Resources, Govt of Assam was also among the dignitaries present at the function. Senior Railway Officers including Shri Nilesh Kishore Prasad, General Manager (Construction), N.F. Railway, Shri Ram Bahadur Rai, Divisional Railway Manager of Lumding Division were also present at the glittering ceremony attended by large number of enthusiastic people of nearby areas. Shri Gohain has said that the introduction of this new train is another step towards transformation through transportation announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The new train consists of 19 new State-of-the-Art LHB coaches having modern amenities and facilities for passengers. The new weekly express train is expected to be greatly beneficial for improving the trade and commerce of the middle Assam areas apart from improving the communication with rest of the country. Tourist travelling to visit Kaziranga wildlife sanctuary would also to be benefited as the train will have stoppages at Amoni and Jakhalabandha.

In his speech Shri Rajen Gohain listed the achievements of post 2014 period. He has also said that a Delhi bound train and a south bound train will also be considered for introduction from Silghat soon. He announced an award of Rs 2 lakh for the division for excellent work of readying facilities like watering of trains etc within record time.

Regular service of the train will start from Kolkata w.e.f 07.01.2019 and from Silghat w.e.f. 08.01.2019.Train number 13182 Silghat – Kolkata Express will leave from Silghat at 12-30 hrs every Tuesday to reach Kolkata at 12-50 hrs next day. During return journey train number 13181 Kolkata – Silghat Express will leave from Kolkata at 09-05 hrs o­n Monday to reach Silghat at 09-55 hrs o­n Tuesday. The train will have stoppages at Jakhalabandha, Amoni, Nowgong, Senchoa, Chaparmukh, Jagiroad, Guwahati, Kamakhya, Goalpara Town, New Bongaigaon, Fakiragram, New Alipurduar, New Coochbehar, New Jalpaiguri, Malda Town, Rampurhat, Bolpur and Barddhaman during its journey o­n both ways. The train will have o­ne AC 2 tier, four AC 3 tier, eight sleeper class and four general second class coaches apart from two luggage cum generator vans.