Title - Broad Gauge Rail Link to Agartala by 2016

#Broadgauge rail link to Agartala by 2016
#AGARTALA, Sept 9 – The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has set a target to bring Agartala in the country’s Broad Gauge (BG) rail network by March 2016, according to official sources.
NFR Chief Engineer (Construction) Harpal Singh who inspected some on-going railway projects here on Monday, told reporters here that Agartala is scheduled to get BG link by March 2016 provided fund shortage do not come in the way.

“If the required fund is available, the NFR will extend BG rail connectivity to Agartala within the stipulated time”, Singh said. He also said that the railway extension work upto Sabroom would be implemented in two phases. The ongoing railway extension work from Agartala to Udaipur is expected to be completed by March 2015 while people of Sabroom would see the railhead by March 2016, he said.

According to him, the BG conversion work from Lumding to Silchar is in full swing. “The NFR has set a target to complete the project by March 2015”, he said. He further said the rail service in between Lumding and Silchar would be suspended for six months starting from October 2014 to expedite the BG conversion work.

The NF Railway official, however, hinted at shortage of fund to execute different railway projects undertaken in the land-locked State. He said the NFR had sought Rs 135 crore for the BG conversion work from Silchar to Agartala but the Centre has allocated only Rs 5 crore.

It may be noted that Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urged him to expedite all the railway projects in the State.