Tripura to soon get Vande Bharat Express, says Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik

Guwahati: Adding another feather to better and world-class connectivity, Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik said that the state of Tripura will soon have its first Vande Bharat Express, a high-speed train service designed for medium distances.

The Northeastern Frontier Railway (NFR) is presently engaged in electrifying the tracks to facilitate this initiative in Tripura.

Efforts by the NFR are underway to electrify the railway network spanning from Dharmanagar to Agartala. The completion of this electrification project is anticipated in the next three to four months so that would mean June or July, it should be ready.

Once the Vande Bharat is extended up to Agartala after the electrification work is completed, it will take passengers four to five hours to reach Guwahati from Agartala, Bhoumik said at an election rally at Dhanpur.

In her address, Bhoumik said that the previous governments took 44 years to bring a train from Dharmanagar, which serves as an entry point to Tripura, to Churaibari, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken “only two years to take the broad gauge railway service up to Agartala”.

“The train service has been made available up to Sabroom by 2020,” she added. Sabroom is located in the southern part of the state.

Bhoumik said that a meeting was held with Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw regarding the railway developments in the northeastern states.

There it was disclosed that the electrification work up to Agartala is slated for completion by June or July. Upon the conclusion of electrification, the Vande Bharat Express will be extended to Agartala, significantly reducing travel time for Tripura residents to reach Guwahati within four to five hours.

Currently, the journey between Agartala and Guwahati by train takes about 12 hours.