1 Trains from (MBO)MAIRABARI to (HBN)HAIBARGAON

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.

Indian Railway is progressing at full throttle towards becoming largest Green Railways in the world. In its mission to minimize dependence o­n fossil fuels 85% RKM of electrification works have been completed. In an endeavour for complete electrification, inspection of Railway Electrification works followed by speed trial at full sectional speed (100 Kmph) in Siliguri Jn - New Mal Jn (48 RKM/61 TKM) Single line section of Alipurduar Division and in Siliguri Jn - Aluabari Road Jn via Bagdogra (74.17 RKM/88.32 TKM) Single line section of Katihar Division under Northeast Frontier Railway has been completed successfully o­n 29^th & 30^th January, 2023 respectively.

Also o­n 31^st January, 2023 inspection of Railway Electrification works in Haibargaon - Mairabari (43.80 RKM/44.92 TKM) section of Lumding Division completed successfully. After commissioning, electric locomotive trains will now be able to operate directly from Guwahati to Haibargaon - Mairabari section and to Silghat town, which will increase the average speed. Train from Silghat to various destinations like Kolkata, Chennai etc can be operated without changing the engine.

The section between Siliguri Jn - New Mal Jn has five stations and the section between Siliguri Jn - Aluabari Road Jn via Bagdogra has ten stations. Many long distance trains pass through these sections. After completion of electrification works trains will pass through these sections with full pace without losing its punctuality. More and more passenger & freight carrying trains will be able to operate from north-eastern region.

Work o­n electrification projects o­n N. F. Railway is in full swing. Electrification will significantly improve the mobility of trains o­n NFR and strengthen the Rail network in north-eastern states.  In addition to the reduction in pollution, the efficiency of the Railway will improve due to the shift from fossil fuel to electricity. This would facilitate seamless traffic and also save time of the trains moving to and from north-eastern states.