Agartala-Akhaura Railway Link to strengthen bonding between India, Bangladesh: CM

In a historic day for Tripura, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, in the presence of Tripura Chief Minister Prof. Dr Manik Saha, virtually inaugurated the Agartala-Akhaura Railway Link on Wednesday.

Both the Prime Ministers inaugurated a total of three projects, including the Akhaura - Agartala Cross-Border Rail Link, the Khulna - Mongla Port Rail Line, and Unit II of the Maitree Super Thermal Power Plant.

Later, addressing a press conference at Civil Secretariat, Chief Minister Dr Saha conveyed thanks to PM Modi and PM Hasina on behalf of the people of Tripura for the inauguration of the Akhaura - Agartala Cross-Border Rail Link.

“It is a historic day for Tripura as the Agartala-Akhaura Railway Link is inaugurated, and this will be written in golden letters in the history of Tripura,” said Dr Saha.

He mentioned that with the opening of the railway link, Tripura is set to become the gateway for transport and tourism. Furthermore, due to the Agartala-Akhaura Railway Link, the distance between Agartala and Kolkata will be reduced from 1600 km to 500 km by rail.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s HIRA Model is set to be implemented. PM Modi has also laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of 508 railway stations across the country under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. In the Northeast, there are 91 railway stations, including three in Tripura. Around Rs 96.60 crores will be spent on the redevelopment of three stations in Tripura, including Dharmanagar, Kumarghat, and Udaipur,” said Dr Saha.

He further informed that, in addition to this, plans have been made by the central government to transform the Agartala Railway station to international standards, for which Rs 245 crore will be allocated.

“In 2014, when PM Modi took office, he started working towards the development of connectivity in the Northeast, which had not happened since independence. We now have around 19 trains, including 13 express trains, 5 DEMU trains, and one local train. In 2016, railway connectivity began to develop in Tripura, and now our state is connected to mainstream India. I want to thank PM Modi and the Union Railway minister for this,” he told reporters.

Dr Saha stated that the length of the Agartala-Akhaura railway link is 12.24 km, with 5.46 km in Tripura and 6.76 km in Bangladesh.

“A total of Rs 972 crore was sanctioned, with Rs 580 crore allocated for the Indian portion and Rs 392 crore for the Bangladeshi portion. IRCON is handling the Indian side, while TEXMACO is working on the Bangladesh side. This initiative will further strengthen the ties between both countries," Dr. Saha added.

During the programme Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Chief Secretary of Tripura JK Sinha and other concerned officials were present.