Wednesday, July 30, 2008

First train to chug into Agartala


Agartala, Jul 30 : The first railway carriage with at least eight bogeys is likely to reach Agartala on August 6, having traversed a distance of 68 km from Ambassa, the headquarters of Dhalai district, said F.S. Mina, in-charge of railway construction in Tripura.

Mina said the chief of railway security, Balbir Singh, would reach Ambassa on August 5 and come by train to Agartala.“All work regarding the laying of tracks and construction of stations is now complete. What we are doing now is the beautification of the stations and tracks,” said Mina, adding that normal movement of the railway would commence after Singh’s nod.

Yesterday, PWD minister Badal Chowdhury, transport minister Manik Dey and PWD chief engineer Sunil Bhowmik visited the newly built Agartala railway station and met senior railway officials.

Official sources said the railway would be formally inaugurated on August 15, according to an informal decision taken by the state government in consultation with railway authorities. “However, all now depends on the trial run of the first carriage on August 6 and the certification from manager railway safety, Balbir Singh,” a source said.

The state government now faces another problem in the poor condition of the 1.85-km approach road from the Agartala station to the Siddhi Ashram area. The sources said: “By August 10, the road will be repaired so that normal traffic can move and after the inauguration of the railway, the state government will acquire land on both sides to widen the road up to 50 metres because of the inevitable rise in traffic movement.”

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