Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is continuing hectic efforts to start running the long-expected electric trains in southern Assam and Tripura at the earliest, officials said on February 7.
An NFR official said that a trial run of the first goods train with an electric locomotive was successfully conducted on February 6 between southern Assam’s Badarpur station and Tripura’s Jirania station, 15 km north of Agartala railway station.
“Necessary infrastructural works including electrification were completed recently in southern Assam and Tripura. After the successful operation of some more goods trains with electric locomotives, the running of passenger trains with electric locomotives would start on the route. We are frantically trying to start running passenger trains with electric locomotives within a month or a maximum of two months,” the official said.
Tripura is now well connected with Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Firozpur, Patna and other cities of the country by several express trains but passenger train services have been solely powered by diesel-powered engines.
A Rs 46 crore electrification project was launched in 2022 to connect Tripura with the national railway grid with electric trains. The Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd (TSECL) would supply power to the railway electric transmission lines.
As the infrastructure with electric railway lines is getting ready, the iconic Vande Bharat Express trains will be extended up to Assam’s Silchar and Agartala within the next few months, the NFR official said.
Rajya Sabha member from Tripura Rajib Bhattacharjee earlier said that infrastructure is almost ready to operate Vande Bharat Express trains up to Silchar and Agartala and the remaining minor works would be completed very soon.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi always gives priority to the development of northeastern states. Vande Bharat Express is one of his dream projects,” he had said.
