Tinsukia, March 29: The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is mulling a proposal to operate a train between Dibrugarh and Naharlagun, a move that will directly connect Upper Assam with the Arunachal Pradesh capital.

Naharlagun railway station is in Papum Pare district, about 15km from Itanagar.

If the proposal is passed, a Shatabdi Express will connect Dibrugarh with Naharlagun. The train will reduce travelling time between Dibrugarh and Naharlagun by almost half. Currently, people use buses or have to change trains at Guwahati to travel between the two towns.

"After a thorough study of the proposal, we have sent a communication along with tentative timing to the Maligaon-based headquarters of NF Railway for their final approval," said a senior official of Tinsukia railway division.

According to the proposal, the train will leave Dibrugarh on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while it will depart from Naharlagun on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

According to the tentative schedule, the train will depart from Banipur railway station in Dibrugarh at 5am and reach Naharlagun railway station at 8.15pm on the same day. On the way, it will touch Dimapur railway station at 8.57am and Guwahati railway station at 2pm. On the return journey, the train will depart from Naharlagun railway station at 5am and reach Banipur railway station at 8.15pm.