Agartala, Jan. 13: An entire state's dream embodied in a broad-gauge railway engine trailed by seven bogeys rolled into Agartala railway station at 2.25 this afternoon.

More than seven years ago, on October 5, the first metre gauge passenger train had rolled into the newly built Agartala railway station to a rousing reception by people, then railway minister Mukul Roy and railway officials.

Today, as the first broad-gauge train rolled in, two Left Front ministers, Badal Chowdhury and Manik Dey, West Tripura MP Sankar Prasad Dutta and Union minister of state for Railways Manoj Sinha were present.

Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar was conspicuous by his absence.

The train, waiting since yesterday at Jogendra Nagar station, 5km away, was not supposed to carry any passenger but a large number of enthusiastic people boarded it. The deputy mayor of Agartala Municipal Corporation, Samar Chakraborty, was among those who waved enthusiastically at the people as the train chugged into a decorated Agartala station.

All the arrangements were done by NF Railway general manager H.K. Jaggi.

Speaking on the occasion, Sinha said the Northeast was a priority area for the BJP-led NDA government, which aimed at connecting all the state capitals of the region by rail by 2020.

He said broad-gauge passengers trains would start plying between Agartala, Silchar and Lumding before the scheduled deadline of March 31.

"I assure you that by the end of 2017, broad gauge will be extended to your southernmost subdivision, Sabroom," he said.

Sinha also announced a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh for the engineers, technocrats and workers who "made it possible" to complete the gauge conversion ahead of schedule (March 31). The work had started on October 1 last year.

Sources said passenger trains would start running after the trial run of goods and ballast trains but this would be done before the March 31 deadline.

Sinha said the Centre was aware of the need to connect the about 15km distance between Agartala and Akhaura railway junction in Bangladesh.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is himself keen to see the work completed. Unfortunately, the cost of acquiring around 10km of land within India, which was initially Rs 31 crore, has risen to Rs 250 crore. Now the railways does not have Kuber's wealth, so we have decided to execute the work on elevated corridor so that the cost of land can be reduced," he added.

Regarding the demand for more overbridges and underbridges across the railway line, Sinha said a railway commission, comprising state government representatives, had been formed and the railways would act upon the panel's recommendations on the location of such bridges.

"Similarly, we do understand the importance of having a Railway Recruitment Board office and railway division office in Tripura but the final decision in this regard can be taken only by the Railway Board. I cannot make a commitment on the issue but can put forward your case to the board," he said.

Sinha promised that Agartala railway station would be equipped with facilities such as ultra-modern signals, mechanical cleaning of engines and carriages and high-quality platforms.

"Very soon, you will have superfast trains running from Agartala to different parts of the country. We will definitely try to allot a Rajdhani Express but you must remember that there are better, though less known trains and these will be provided," he said.

Sinha said the railways was looking forward to high investment from private and foreign direct investment (FDI) sectors. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviews the working of the railways twice a year.

Just after Independence, Tripura had no access to mainland India as the natural access through East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) had been blocked.

In the fifties of the last century, the Assam-Agartala National Highway was built with great difficulty with many labourers and supervisors falling prey to prowling tigers.

The first railway train (metre gauge) rolled into Dharmanagar station of North Tripura from Kalkalighat in Karimganj district of Assam in 1964. After that there was a long pause.

Things started moving after 1996-1997 as gradually the 118km-long Badarpur (Assam)-Kumarghat (North Tripura) metre gauge connectivity was covered by 1998.

In 2004, the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, declared railway connectivity in the Northeast and in Kashmir a national project.

By October 2008, the first metre gauge passenger train rolled into Agartala from Kumarghat, a distance of 109km. There are three major tunnels between Agartala and Kumarghat in the Longtarai hill ranges. The estimated cost of the gauge conversion between Kumarghat and Agartala has been Rs 1,451 crore.