13 Trains from (CNE)CHANDRANATHPUR to (DJA)DAOTUHAJA

Maligaon, 13^th July, 2022:

In view of landslides and water logging due to incessant rain and resultant breaches and track damages in more than 60 locations of Lumding - Badarpur hill section of the Lumding division, services of passenger and freight trains had to be cancelled from second week of May, 2022. Northeast Frontier Railway has put all its efforts in restoring the damaged section and re-starting the train services as early as possible by braving all odds. As a result of which, freight train services in the Lumding - Badarpur hill section resumed last night after a prolonged gap of almost two months.

The first freight train carrying sugar has left last night for Jirania station (near Agartala) from Daotuhaja station. Another freight train, loaded with steel coils has left from Manderdisa for Bhairabi station (in Mizoram). Several more freight trains carrying commodities like stone chips, rice, etc will also be operated in this section to fulfil the supply gap. N. F. Railway is also making arrangements to bring back the empty freight rakes that were stuck in different sections of the devastated hill section since last two months. This will help operation of more trains.

It may be mentioned here that both railways and roadways in the Dima Hasao district got damaged owing to incessant rain. As a result, the entire hill section remained cut off with rest of the country by rail connectivity for the last two months. Railways being the bulk transporter of essentials items including POL products for states like Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram and the entire Barak Valley areas of Assam; immediate filling up of shortages of essential and construction commodities are essential. Considering all these aspects, N. F. Railway has started running of freight carrying train with essential and non - essential commodities to make-good the shortage of day to day commodities for the people of affected areas. N. F. Railway is all set to resume the passenger train services as early as possible during the current month itself.

Indian Railways has taken an important initiative in field of innovation through participation of start-ups and other entities. Hon’ble Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, recently had launched an innovation policy - “StartUps for Railways” o­n 13^thJune, 2022 in Rail Bhavan, New Delhi. In line with Indian Railways initiatives towards innovative solution to acquire operational efficiency and safety, Shri Anshul Gupta, General Manager of Northeast Frontier Railway held a Press Conference at Guwahati o­n 15^thJune, 2022.

The General Manager informed that the policy aims to bring scale and efficiency in the field of operation, maintenance and infrastructure creation through participation of the very large and untapped startup ecosystem. Shri Anshul Gupta said that the integration of disruptive technology into Indian Railways have taken a firm shape in form of this initiative.

The General Manager said that through this platform startups youth will get a good opportunity to connect with Railways. Out of various problem statements received from different field offices/zones of Railways, 11 problem statements like rail fracture, headway reduction etc. have been taken up initially for this program. These will be presented before the startups to find innovative solutions. General Manager urged the startups to use this opportunity and ensured them of support from Indian Railways in form of 50 percent capital grant, assured market, scale and ecosystem.

Under this programme, innovator can get a grant up to Rs. 1.5 Crore o­n equal sharing basis with provision of milestone-wise payment. Complete process from floating of problem statement to development of prototype is o­nline with defined time line to make it transparent and objective. Trials of prototypes will be done in Railways. Enhanced funding will be provided to scale up deployment o­n successful performance of prototypes. Developed Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) will remain with innovator o­nly. Assured development order will be provided to innovator.

The General Manager said that the selection will be through open, transparent and fair process which will entail innovators uploading their concepts with necessary proof o­n a dedicated portal can be done at the Indian Railway Innovation Portal o­n web address www.innovation.indianrailways.gov.in. The portal will start accepting ideas from 21^st June, 2022.

Replying to various queries about restoration works in Dima Hasao, the General Manager stated that restoration in 46 out of 61 breaches have been completed and in 15 critical locations work is going o­n in full swing. He further stated that chances are there to resume train services upto New Haflong from Badarpur by 20^thJune. The General Manager thanked Indian Air Force, Railway employees, roadways service and private bus operators in rescuing the stranded passengers and sent back to their home safely. He also briefed the media about the status of the state capital connectivity projects and the international connectivity projects under Northeast Frontier Railway. The recently sanctioned final location survey for the Chandranathpur – Silchar new line project was also discussed by the General Manager. This project will provide an alternative route to the hill section and also act as a double line for connectivity to South Assam, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura.