Silchar, May 2: The first broad-gauge passenger train from Silchar in south Assam to Agartala in Tripura was flagged off today from Silchar railway station at 9am.
The 05664 Silchar-Agartala special with 12 coaches started its journey of around 10 hours 15 minutes with 246 passengers.
"My happiness knows no bounds. I have been waiting for this day for the past few months. My family stays in Silchar and I work in Agartala. I could not pay a visit my family even during holidays because of the pathetic road condition. From now, I can travel by train," said Nilratan Bhattacharjee, who works in Tripura University.
Sources in the NFR told The Telegraph that the train was being run on a trial basis.
"Two trains will be run from Agartala to Silchar, a distance of 257km, on Tuesday and Thursday, in the same way another train will go to Agartala on Wednesday," said the superintendent of Silchar railway station, Biplab Das.
"As it is being run on a trial basis, there is neither AC nor sleeper class coach in the train. The cost of a ticket from Silchar to Agartala is Rs 50."
Sources in the NF Railway said the commencement of passenger train service was delayed because of the election model code of conduct was in force.
"Regular train service will start at the end of this month," the source added. The sale from tickets today for the Silchar-Agartala passenger special train was Rs 6,635.
The first broad-gauge train rolled into Agartala on January 13. The first railway train (metre gauge) arrived in 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. The first metre-gauge passenger train rolled into Agartala railway station on October 5, 2008.
In Haflong, a 40m-long crack has been detected on the inside wall of railway tunnel number 10, along the Lumding-Silchar track, in Dima Hasao district following heavy rain over the past fortnight.
All the trains along the route have been cancelled on Tuesday and Wednesday.
When The Telegraph visited the site on Saturday, railway authorities were repairing the crack under the supervision of executive engineer (construction), Northeast Frontier Railway, S.K.Paul. Paul refused to comment on the issue.
The Lumding-Silchar railway track has been closed for the past five days after landslides at several places.
The Lumding-Silchar track was converted from metre to broad gauge last year and a goods train service was started on March 25, 2015 and passenger trains started plying on November 21.
Earlier, chief bridge engineer, Northeast Frontier Railway, Alok Kumar Verma, had sent a report to the Lumding divisional railway manager, recommending suspension of passenger trains between New Haflong and Ditokcherra stations because of the poor condition of bridges, tunnels and cuttings.
Railway authorities have been carrying out repairs on a war footing so that passenger train services can resume as soon as possible.
Additional reporting by Samsul Alam from Haflong
