3 Trains from (DKGN)DEKARGAON to (SPTR)SILAPATHAR

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.

As a part of the initiatives by Northeast Frontier Railway to further improve the freight loading/unloading from various un-tapped locations, discussions with various stake holders are being held regularly. Loading and unloading of commodities from nearest locations help the local economy to flourish apart from making the essential items available for common people. Discussions are being held with traders by the Business Development Units (BDUs) of Northeast Frontier Railway about how they will be able to send their commodities to outside or receive delivery of materials from outside with lesser cost of transportation. These discussions by the BDUs within their respective areas are also helping to find new segment of traffic for movement by train. In a recent such initiative, the BDU of Rangiya division under Northeast Frontier Railway organised a meeting with North Assam Chambers of Commerce and Industry at Tezpur o­n 3^rd September, 2021.

 During the interactive session, various issues including potential for new loading from Dekargaon station, problems faced by the business community during loading/unloading were discussed. Demand for piecemeal traffic towards Dekargaon station aiming at facilitating transportation of goods of small scale industries was also discussed. Idea of Kisan Rail services to assist Individual/group of farmers, State Marketing/Co-operative Federation, Co-operative Societies, Food Processor units, etc aimed at ensuring a fast transportation of agricultural produce along with  subsidy was shared with the business community. Business communities were also informed that they can easily transport their commodities from their nearest convenient railway station at a much cheaper rate in comparison to road sector.     

It may be noted that N.F. Railway has set up Business Development Units (BDUs) at all the Divisions i.e. Katihar, Alipurduar, Rangiya, Lumding and Tinsukia and also at Zonal Head Quarters level to increase the freight transportation volume. The initiatives by the BDUs of various divisions have been successful in bringing in new mode of traffic to railways from road sector.