May 28: Union railway minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu today announced projects for Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Jorhat railway stations here.

The projects are - renovation of Dibrugarh town station, a new station building at Jorhat town, Wi-Fi connectivity for passengers and reverse osmosis (RO) plant at Guwahati station.

Speaking on the occasion, the railway minister said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, he prioritised the railway sector and special attention was paid to developing the railway network in the Northeast. "The previous government had not done anything to develop the infrastructure of the railways and failed at developing the railway network in the Northeast. But in the last two years, we have started the process to develop the railways and so far we have inaugurated some of the projects. We are planning to introduce unreserved trains. Fast moving trains will come up soon as well,'' Prabhu said.

He said in the last year they have spent Rs 9,40,000 crore for infrastructure development of the railways. "We are committed to bringing a revolution in the railway sector and the process has started. In 2015-16, we have commissioned 2,800 railway lines in India." Prabhu said the term "coolie" would be changed to " sahayak" soon.

Dibrugarh MLA Prashanta Phukan said, "It is a historic day for us because the first railway station in the Northeast was established in Dibrugarh." Phukan requested the Union minister to provide new trains from this station respecting the sentiments of Dibrugarh's residents.

Jorhat MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa appealed to Prabhu that abandoned railway stations should be started again. "In Jorhat we urgently need a railway overbridge because many people have died while crossing the tracks,'' he said.

Dibrugarh MP Rameshwar Teli said, "We hope the Bogibeel bridge will be completed by next year as it will be helpful for those who use ferry services.''

Prabhu said the government would inquire into the delay in completion of Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge and try to ensure early completion of the project.

This came after he asked railway officials at the bridge site, 17km from Dibrugarh, regarding the progress of the bridge, to which the officials said it is unlikely to be completed before 2018.

The rail budget of 2016-17 had sanctioned Rs 550 crore to Northeast Frontier Railway for the Bogibeel bridge. The last deadline was set for April next year.

The officials, however, failed to give any exact date of completion or any satisfactory reason for the delay.

The construction of Bogibeel bridge, a 4.94km stretch over the Brahmaputra, the longest rail-cum-road bridge, has been delayed several times since its inaugurated in 2002 by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The initial deadline of the project was April 2009. The project has missed deadlines for 14 years since then and the budget has also spiked from its original Rs 1,767 crore to Rs 3,230 crore and is likely to touch Rs 5,000 crore.