People of India and Bangladesh witnessed a historic moment after 60 months. The Akhaura-Agartala rail has entered through the border of Tripura.
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday inaugurated the rail link between the two countries by pressing a button through a virtual ceremony.
The total length of the rail link is 12.28 km.
Of this, the Indian part is 5.46 km in Tripura and the Bangladesh part is 6.78 km. In July 2016, the allocation for this project was Rs 972 crore 52 lakh. Of this, Rs 580 crore are allocated for the Indian section and Rs 392 crore 52 lakh are allocated for the Bangladesh portion.
After a long 60 months, the rail connectivity started on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two more projects. He laid the foundation for the redevelopment of 508 railway stations across the country under the ‘Amrit Bharat Station Scheme’.
Rs 5 thousand 100 crores have been allocated for this project for the development of 51 railway stations on the North-East Frontier Railway. Three railway stations in the state have been brought under ‘Amrit Bharat Station Scheme’.
Dharmanagar, Kumarghat and Udaipur railway stations are covered under this Project. Rs 96 crore 60 lakhs will be invested for improvement and modernization of these three railway stations.
Apart from this, the Ministry of Railways has planned to upgrade the Agartala railway station to an international standard railway station under the ‘World Class Station Scheme’. Rs 235 crore 45 lakh will be released for this. Chief Minister from the state Dr. Manik Saha participated in the event virtually directly from the srate civil Secretariat.
After this ceremony, Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha said through a press conference at the Secretariat, thanks, greetings and congratulations from the people of Tripura to the Prime Ministers of the two countries.
“Today this historical chapter written in golden letters in the history of Tripura state. Tripura’s communication system has improved a lot since Narendra Modi’s government is established in 2014. After today, the friendship between the two countries will be stronger” said CM.
In the press conference organized, the Chief Minister said that after Narendra Modi’s government came to power, it has given special importance to the project of improving the communication system of North Eastern region through Act East Policy. Various projects are being implemented. At present North Eastern region including Tripura is progressing significantly in terms of overall connectivity. Which was not possible even in the last seven decades of independence. Tripura is going to be the gateway for transport and tourism between India and Bangladesh through this rail link. Not only this, the Agartala-Akhaura rail link will reduce the distance of the Agartala-Kolkata railway from 1600 km to 500 km.
He also said that currently total 19 trains are running in the state. Among them 13 express trains, 5 demo trains. Agartala-Mumbai weekly Lokmanya Tilak Kamakhya Express train started from October 19.
