Congress supporters march through Raiganj town with a picture of Das Munshi. Picture by Nityananda Sarkar

Raiganj, Feb. 26: The railway budget has gifted North Dinajpur district a weekly express train to Delhi that will run via Raiganj, sparking celebrations among residents here.

The introduction of the Radhikapur-Delhi Express means passengers from this town will no longer have to bear the hardship of travelling to Malda or Kishanganj in Bihar to catch trains bound for the capital.

“So many students, businessmen and service holders have to frequently travel to Delhi from here. A direct train will help them all,” said Joynarayan Somani, the general secretary of the West Dinajpur Chamber of Commerce.

Ashok Dutta, a resident of Milanpara here, echoed Somani. “I have been studying in Delhi for the past three years and always hated the experience of a break-journey via Malda or Kishanganj.”

From Malda, there are two daily trains to Delhi — the Guwahati-Delhi Express and the Farakka Express. However, to catch the Guwahati-Delhi Express, one has to start off from Raiganj the previous day, travel 75km by road, spend the night at Malda station and board the train early in the morning.

Kishanganj, too, has its problems, as passengers do not consider it safe to wait for trains at this desolate station. Moreover, the distance between Raiganj and Kishanganj is nearly 180km by road.

Hordes of Congress supporters came out on the streets of Raiganj this afternoon and distributed sweets, celebrating the occasion, which, they claimed, was made possible by parliamentary affairs minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi.

From the pre-Independence era, Raiganj town and its surrounding areas have been poorly connected with the rail network. After the tracks in the region were converted from metre to broad gauge in March 2006, Das Munshi took the initiative to get a daily train introduced between Radhikapur (located around 30km east of Raiganj on the Indo-Bangla border) and Calcutta. The train passed through Raiganj.

“The introduction of the Delhi-bound train will boost our party’s chances in the coming panchayat polls,” said a local Congress leader.

The residents of town, however, want more.

“We should now press for a tri-weekly run of the train,” said the general secretary of the West Dinajpur Chamber of Commerce.

District Congress president Mohit Sengupta added: “We also want an inter-city express between Radhikapur and Alipurduar.”

Trade hub unhappy

People in Siliguri have expressed disappointment at the fact that railway minister Lalu Prasad did not announce any new trains for the town.

“Issues like electrification of tracks and improvement of security systems in north Bengal have been overlooked,” said Bengal urban development minister and resident of Siliguri Asok Bhattacharya. “The year-old demand for another express train from New Jalpaiguri to Calcutta to ease the pressure on Darjeeling Mail has also been shelved.”

Porters at different stations of north Bengal, however, celebrated the possibility of being recruited by the railways as gangmen.

“I have been working as a porter in Siliguri junction station for more that 20 years, but never thought of landing a job in the railways,” said a jubilant Ramchander Singh, face smeared with gulal. “But now Laluji has made our dreams come true.”