Assam: NF Railway starts work to upgrade broad gauge railway line from Haflong to Tripura's Sabroom

The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has initiated work to upgrade the single broad gauge line to the double one from Assam's Haflong to Sabroom in the South Tripura district, an official said on Wednesday. 

The survey for the 243-km stretch from Haflong's Chandranath to Sabroom will be completed by June next year, he said. 

Notably, a team of NFR headed by its general manager (operation) Sunil Kumar Jha met Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha in his official residence. 

“The NFR has already undertaken steps to convert the single BG line to the double one from Haflong's Chandranath to Sabroom in South Tripura via Agartala. The NFR general manager told the chief minister about this plan," a state government official said. 

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The NFR delegation revealed that it has already initiated a process to complete the railway network in the Agartala-Gangasagar (Bangladesh) stretch at the earliest, and it is expected to be completed by October. 

Jha assured that the ongoing electrification of the railway tracks from Badarpur to Sabroom is expected to be completed by March next year. 

Besides, three railway links -- Pecharthal-Kailashahar-Dharmanagar (41.75 km), Dharmanagar-Belonia (187.72 km) and Belonia-Feni (Bangladesh) covering a 2.92-km distance -- are under consideration of the Railways' board. 

He said the railway authorities have already prepared a detailed project report, amounting to Rs 235.45 crore to upgrade the Agartala station, and 90 per cent of the construction of a railyard at Sabroom in South Tripura district has been completed. 

The NFR delegation apprised the chief minister of a plan of developing three railway stations -- Dharmangar, Kumarghat and Udaipur-Matabari -- under the Amrit Bharat Station scheme. An amount of Rs 90.70 crore has been sanctioned for the modernisation of these stations. 

The railway board is actively considering introducing express trains from Agartala to Mumbai Jammu and Puri along with intercity service to Guwahati. On the other hand, the chief minister expressed concern over the smuggling of drugs and other contraband items using trains and sought the deployment of adequate security personnel to check it. 

Chief Minister's secretary Pradip Kumar Chakravorty and state transport department's additional secretary Subrata Chowdhury were present at the meeting. Later, the NFR delegation met chief secretary J K Sinha to brief him about the ongoing work and its future plans.