Guwahati/Agartala, Nov 9 (IANS) After Assam, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has begun introducing electric train services on a full-fledged basis in Tripura following the successful completion of several trial runs of electric locomotives in the state, officials said on Monday.
On July 4, the NFR introduced the first-ever Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) train service in the Northeast region, connecting Tripura with southern Assam.
“Train number 20502 Anand Vihar–Agartala Tejas Rajdhani Express ran successfully on electric traction from end to end last week,” an NFR official told IANS.
He said that, in a phased manner, long-distance express trains hauled by electric locomotives would now be operated in Tripura, making it the second state in the Northeastern region after Assam to have such services.
Equipped with modern passenger amenities, the MEMU train has a carrying capacity of 3,600 passengers and connects Agartala with Karimganj in neighbouring Assam.
The NFR official said that the train, which was earlier operating as a Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU), has now been successfully upgraded to a Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU), marking a significant technological advancement following the electrification of the railway route.
Unlike DEMU trains, MEMU services operate on electric traction, making them more environmentally friendly, energy-efficient and economical to operate.
According to NFR officials, the environment-friendly MEMU train is equipped with several modern passenger amenities, including LED lighting, 12 stainless steel coaches, bio-toilets, a GPS-based passenger information system displaying details of the next station and platform, a public address system, CCTV surveillance, and several other advanced facilities.
Tripura Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath told IANS that the Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd. (TSECL) has completed 100 per cent electrification of the state’s 271-km railway network.
He recalled that the first train reached Dharmanagar in northern Tripura in 1964, while it took another 44 years for railway connectivity to reach the state capital, Agartala, in 2008. Rail connectivity was further extended to Sabroom in southern Tripura in 2019, marking another significant milestone in the expansion of the state’s railway network.
Nath said that after Narendra Modi assumed office as Prime Minister in 2014, the broad-gauge conversion project in Tripura was completed, replacing the earlier metre-gauge railway line. He also noted that the international railway link connecting Agartala with Akhaura in Bangladesh was completed in 2023.
“The present state and Central governments are committed to ensuring development and accelerating the state’s progress,” Nath had said.
The broad-gauge railway network from Churaibari, along the Tripura-Assam border, to Sabroom, near the India-Bangladesh border, now spans 271 km. All related development and expansion works were completed within seven years, the minister said.
Under the Centre’s Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, redevelopment work is currently underway at four railway stations in Tripura — Agartala, Udaipur, Kumarghat, and Dharmanagar.
Tripura is currently connected to several major cities in the country, including Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Firozpur, and Patna, through various long-distance express train services.
Meanwhile, the Lumding-Badarpur mountainous section in Assam is the only rail link connecting Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, and southern Assam with the rest of the country, making it one of the most vital and strategically important railway corridors in the Northeast.
(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujitchakrabortyne@gmail.com)
–IANS
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