Agartala, Apr 21, 2023, TRIPURA TIMES Desk

Agartala, Apr 21: The much-awaited international rail connectivity between Tripura and Bangladesh is likely to commence from September this year, a Minister said on Friday.

Addressing a press conference at the secretariat, Transport minister Sushanta Chowdhury said he recently had discussions with Union Minister for Railways Aswini Vaishnav on the upcoming project. During his meeting with the Union Minister in New Delhi on April 19, Chowdhury laid emphasis on speedy completion of the project.

Chowdhury also requested the Union Minister to consider the proposals sent to the Ministry for development of the rail network in the state.

He also said, the Minister for Railways requested the DoNER Minister for sanctioning additional Rs. 150 crore for speedy completion of the Agartala- Akhaura rail link project. He is hopeful that the fund would be sanctioned very soon.

According to Chowdhury, 85 percent of the work on the Indian side and 73 percent on the Bangladesh side have already been completed.

Speaking to the media, he also said, a proposal has been sent to the Minister for Railways to develop Agartala Railway Station as a station of international standard. The Union Minister, who assured necessary support from his ministry, is expected to visit the state soon to lay foundation stone.

Their discussions also included escalator service at Dharmanagar and Agartala railway stations and rail link in Dharmanagar- Pecharthal- Kailashahar section. The 50 percent survey for this project has already been completed. The total project cost would be Rs. 1,855 crore.

The Transport minister also said, he had discussions on converting the rail track from Lumding to Sabroom into double-lane tracks and extending the rail connectivity from Belonia up to zero point of Bangladesh border.

Additional secretary of Transport department Subrata Chowdhury and Deputy Secretary Nihar Ranjan Das were present in the press conference.