Tinsukia, April 30: Assam got its first Shatabdi Express today.
Minister of state for railways Rajen Gohain flagged off the Shatabdi Express between Dibrugarh and Guwahati during a ceremony at Dibrugarh railway station in presence of Dibrugarh MP Rameswar Teli, Northeast Frontier Railway general manager Chahatey Ram, the divisional railway manager of Tinsukia division, Prashant Kumar Mishra, and senior railway officials.
Flagging off the inaugural train, Gohain said, "The 12085/12086 Dibrugarh-Guwahati Shatabdi Express is aimed to improve railway connectivity , a long-standing demand of the people of this region."
The train has the latest fully air-conditioned Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches to provide safety and extra comfort to the travellers, Gohain added.
The passengers will be provided with bottled water, juice, coffee or tea, and meals during the journey.
Gohain appealed to the people not to damage a beautiful train like Shatabdi and keep it clean. The appeal comes in the backdrop of reports of damage in the interiors of a diesel electric multiple unit train immediately after it was launched a few months ago.
Thanking the railway ministry, Teli said, "Railways will play an important role in adding to the development of the state by providing more efficient services."
NFR general manager Chahatey Ram said, "The Dibrugarh Guwahati Shatabdi Express will operate three days a week. It will leave Dibrugarh on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and depart from Guwahati on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, covering a distance of 506km in nine hours reducing travel time by over three hours."
Talking to The Telegraph, the divisional railway manager of Tinsukia division Prashant Mishra, said, "This is the first Shatabdi Express of Assam, the one between Jorhat and Guwahati is Jan Shatabdi."
"The train will have 10 AC chair-car coaches, each having 78 seats and two luggage-cum-generator cars. It will have seven intermediate stops and the total fare, including food, will be Rs 1,095 from Guwahati to Dibrugarh and Rs 1,010 and between Dibrugarh and Guwahati," he added.
While the train will depart from Dibrugarh railway station at 5am and reach Guwahati at 2.05pm, it will leave Guwahati at 12.10pm and reach Dibrugarh at 9.15pm .
According to a railway source, the earlier notification was to run the Shatabdi Express between Dibrugarh and Naharlagun, 15km from Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, connecting Upper Assam and Itanagar for the first time on the rail-map. However, as some criteria were not fulfilled, the competent authority amended the notification to operate the train between Dibrugarh and Guwahati, the official said.
There will be another notification to operate a new Shatabdi Express between Guwahati and Itanagar very soon, the source added. There is no official confirmation on this development yet.
