Guwahati, Aug. 9: Connectivity will get a further boost in Arunachal Pradesh and the districts in the north bank of the Brahmaputra in Assam with the inauguration of two new broad gauge trains by Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu tomorrow.
Prabhu will inaugurate the Guwahati-Murkongselek Intercity Express and Dekargaon-Bhalukpong passenger service from New Delhi through remote control. Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju and Union sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal will attend two functions at Bhalukpong in Arunachal Pradesh and Murkongselek in Assam's Dhemaji district respectively on the occasion.
Murkongselek rail station in Dhemaji district is a few kilometres from the Arunachal Pradesh border while Bhalukpong is in Arunachal's West Kameng district.
The Rangiya-Murkongselek (511.88km) national gauge conversion project has been completed bit-by-bit, sometimes braving nature's fury. Its Rangiya-Rangapara North-Dekargaon (144.48km) portion was completed on November 7, 2013, Rangapara North-Harmuti (142.76km) portion on March 28, 2014, Harmuti-North Lakhimpur (35km) portion on December 16, 2014, North Lakhimpur to Sripani (82km) portion on March 13, 2015, and finally, Sripani to Murkongselek and Balipara to Bhalukpong portions on May 8 this year.
To complete the conversion project, train service from Rangiya to Murkongselek was stopped in 2011. "The gauge conversion work suffered because Dhemaji district is prone to floods. Yet, the railways worked hard to complete the project," said an official of NF Railway.
"Inauguration of the two trains will not only boost connectivity for people in the north bank of the Brahmaputra and Arunachal Pradesh but also give relief in terms of fare. At present, a bus charges a passenger Rs 630 from Jonai town (nearest bus stop from Murkongselek) to Guwahati. The fare will be less than Rs 150 for general-category tickets and Rs 285 for a sleeper ticket," said a Dhemaji resident.
The people on the north bank are also awaiting completion of the 4.94km rail-cum-road Bogibeel bridge on the Brahmaputra, scheduled to be completed next year, which will further bolster connectivity in the north bank districts.
The inaugural run of the Guwahati-Murkongselek Intercity Express will be conducted tomorrow. The train will leave Murkongselek at 12.30pm and reach Guwahati at 12.34am the next day. Regular train services will continue from Tuesday with one train leaving Guwahati at 8.55am and reaching Murkongselek at 9.30pm and the other will leave Murkongselek at 11pm and reach Guwahati at 12.30pm the next day.
Regular train services will start between Dekargaon in central Assam's Sonitpur district and Bhalukpong in West Kameng district in Arunachal Pradesh from Tuesday. The train that will leave Dekargaon at 12.45pm, will reach Bhalukpong at 2.55pm and the one that will leave Bhalukpong at 3.30pm, will reach Dekargaon at 5.45pm.
