Isolated Assam's Barak Valley gets broad-gauge rail

The  Railways scripted a new chapter in south Assam on Saturday after the first passenger train on the newly laid broad gauge line between Silchar and Lumding was flagged off via a remote control by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

The first passenger train chugged out of Silchar Railway station on Saturday morning, ending decades of isolation of southern Assam from the broad-gauge network. The government has made north-eastern states a priority as far as rail and road connectivity is concerned.

The  Railways will continue its focus on developing rail connectivity in the north-eastern states. All state capitals in the north-east will be connected by rail, Prabhu said.
 The move has been inspired by the fact that China, on the other side of the border, has developed the highest level of connectivity.

These states are strategically important because borders of Bangladesh and Myanmar also touch these states.

Railways sources said the passenger train will cover a distance of 210 km in eight hours to reach Guwahati through Lumding, reducing the travelling time by four hours. Earlier, on a meter–gauge line laid during the British era,  it took 12 hours to cover the same distance.

“People of south Assam are getting important railway connectivity with rest of the nation. Today, we are introducing a new train between Guwahati and Silchar after conversion of Lumding-Silchar metre gauge line into broad gauge,” the minister said while addressing thousands of people, who had gathered in the Silchar railway station, over a video-conference system.

Broad gauge connectivity to Silchar will not only benefit southern Assam but also neighbouring states of Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur.

Goods trains have been running on this newly laid broad-gauge section since March 2015.

“Rail connectivity to north-eastern states has been made a mission by the new government, as we provided an all-time high budget allotment of Rs 5,200 crore to the projects in this region in 2014-15 which is over 50 per cent more than 2013-14. This tempo has been maintained in 2015-16 also by providing Rs 5,300 crore,” Prabhu added.