LAKHIMPUR

Arunachal Pradesh, the land of the rising sun, is o­ne of the Northeastern seven sister states. This is o­ne of the most picturesque places in India. This state has the power to become a tourism hub. Working in this direction, Northeast Frontier Railway has done a tremendous amount of infrastructure development in this state. Itanagar, the capital city, became the second o­nly state capital among the eight north eastern states after Guwahati to be o­n the railway map when in 2018 the first Broad guage passenger train chugged into Naharlagun station.

Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has undertaken many other developmental and infrastructural initiatives in Arunachal Pradesh to boost tourism and improve connectivity during the period 2014-22. The Murkongselek - Pasighat new line (26.15 km), at a cost of Rs 661 crore, has been sanctioned for execution. Surveys for more new broad gauge lines are going o­n. Some  important surveys  like the Lekhapani to Deban via Nampong (75 km) ;  Dumduma to Wakro ( 96 km)  via Simulguri, Namsai and Chowkham; Dangri to Roing( 60 km) & Tinsukia ( Longpatia ) to Pasighat (300 km) via Kanubari, Deomali, Lekhapani, Jairampur, Kharsang, Miao, Diyu, Tezu, Bhismaknagar, Roing and Dambuk ; Dhalai Beel to Seijosa via Itakhola (18 km );  Naharkatia to Deomali  (20 km ); Misamari (Bhalukpong) to Tawang (198 km) via Tenga; North Lakhimpur to Bame via Silapathar  ( 87 km  ); Pasighat to Rupai via Tezu  (217.8 km) and  Lekhapani and Kharsang (26.2 km) are going o­n in full swing.Once completed, these new lines will spearhead the eventual socio-economic boom in the state.

Apart from these new lines survey, other basic Railway infrastructures have also been augmented in Arunachal Pradesh. New Coaching Maintenance Depot was set up and commissioned at Naharlagun in March, 2020. Mechanised cleaning of Naharlagun station started from 2018-19. Toilets for Divyangjan have been provided at Gumto, Naharlagun and Bhalukpong stations. Train Indication Board, Coach Indication Board and Integrated Passenger Information System are provided at these stations. Passenger Reservation System, Unreserved Ticketing System and Free high speed Wi-Fi are also provided at nominated stations of Arunachal Pradesh. Point of sale machines for cash-less transactions were installed in Naharlagun and Bhalukpong stations. As a part of NFR’s Go-Green mission Naharlagun, Bhalukpong and Gumto stations have been provided with 100% LED lights during 2017-18. o­ne 10 kwP solar power plant has also been installed in Naharlagun during 2018-19.

Naharlagun station was opened to both outward and inward goods traffic for ease of freight transportation. 55 freight trains arrived in Arunachal Pradesh with essential commodities and 39 parcel vans were loaded with various commodities for Arunachal Pradesh during 2021-22.

In order to transform Trade and Tourism in North East region through Rail connectivity and to promote cultural heritage of the Northeast; two more Vistadome train services were flagged off o­n 19^th December, 2021. The Vistadome train services between Guwahati - Naharlagun and Naharlagun – Tinsukia were flagged off by Hon’ble Chief Minister of Assam Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma at Guwahati Railway Station, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Shri Pema Khandu at Naharlagun station and Smt. Darshana Jardosh, Hon’ble Minister of State of Railways & Textiles at Guwahati Railway Station. Both the locations were connected via video link. At Guwahati, Shri Chandra Mohan Patowary, Hon’ble Minister of Transport, Industries & Commerce, Govt. of Assam; Shri Bimal Bora, Hon’ble Minister of Sports & Youth Welfare, Cultural Affairs, Power and Tourism, Govt. of Assam, Smt. Queen Oja, Hon’ble MP (Lok Sabha) and Shri Anshul Gupta, General Manager of N. F. Railway were present. At Naharlagun station, Hon’ble MP (Rajya Sabha) Shri Nabam Rebia and Hon’ble MLA Shri Techi Kaso were also present. Moreover, existing Vistadome service between Guwahati and New Haflong have been decided to extend up to Badarpur to fulfil the demand of tourists.

The Vistadome coaches are equipped with state of the art glass windows and all glass roofs for providing view of the open sky, mountains, tunnels, bridges, hills, tea gardens and lush green forests to the tourists. It will also have observation lounges for the purpose of site seeing. The rotational seats of the coach are designed to provide added comfort to passengers. Coaches are also provided with digital entertainment system and Wi-Fi facilities. Tourist can enjoy the entire travel by enjoying infotainments like movies, music videos etc. Wi-Fi based passenger information system is also provided. For safety of passenger, CCTV cameras and Fire Alarm System are also installed.

The regular services of Train No. 12087/12088 Naharlagun – Guwahati – Naharlagun Shatabdi Express with Vistadome coach resumed w.e.f. 20-12-2021. The train runs three days a week leaving from Naharlagun o­n every Monday, Tuesday and Friday and from Guwahati o­n every Monday, Thursday and Sunday. The train departs from Naharlagun at 06-45 hours to reach Guwahati at 12-30 hours and from Guwahati at 13-45 hours to reach Naharlagun at 19-45 hours. The train covers a distance of 343 Kms and have stoppages at Harmuti, Viswanath Charali, Rangapara North, New Misamari, Udalguri, Tangla and Rangiya stations.

           The regular services of 15907/15908 Tinsukia – Naharlagun – Tinsukia Vistadome Express resumed w.e.f. 21-12-2021. The train runs five days a week leaving from Tinsukia o­n every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and leaving from Naharlagun o­n every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The train departs from Tinsukia at 16-00 hours to reach Naharlagun at 21-45 hours and from Naharlagun at 05-30 hours to reach Tinsukia at 10-40 hours. The train covers a distance of 225 Kms and have stoppages at New Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Dhemaji, Bordoloni, Gogamukh, Boginadi, North Lakhimpur and Harmuti stations.

           The existing services of Train No. 15888/15887 Guwahati – New Haflong – Guwahati have been extended to run up to Badarpur w.e.f. 22-12-2021. The Train No. 15888/15887 Guwahati – Badarpur – Guwahati departs from Guwahati at 06-45 hours to reach Badarpur at 14-20 hours and from Badarpur at 15-15 hours to reach Guwahati at 22-45 hours. The train covers a distance of 341 Kms and have stoppages at Maibong, New Haflong and Jatinga Lumpur stations.

   Guwahati – Naharlagun route is surrounded by the tea gardens and tourists can enjoy the scenic beauty of Himalayan range in north and green covers of tea gardens o­n either side of the track. Vistadome services from Naharlagun will provide breath-taking views of Brahmaputra River, the tea gardens, rain forests along the track and views of mountains of Himalayan range. The route also covers historic cities of Assam. Tourism sectors of this area will reap the benefits from these new services.