SILCHAR, Dec 14 - The Silchar-Lumding Broad-gauge Rupayan Sangram Samiti has demanded that a new railway alignment connecting Silchar with Guwahati (by constructing the alternative Chandranathpur-Lanka route) must be considered for the benefit of passengers keeping in mind the future requirements.
In a statement issued to the media, Ajoy Roy, convener of the committee, said that in 1984, the Railway Ministry conducted a feasibility survey and suggested the construction of a new broad gauge (BG) line between Lanka and Silchar. �We heartily welcome the opening of the passenger train service connecting Silchar with Guwahati for which the committee had strived for long six years. However, with the opening of the rail link from Agartala, Jiribam and Bhairavi, the Chandranathpur-Lanka alternative alignment will be of significant importance in terms of traffic security,� he said.
Roy added to say that the committee will raise this demand in its forthcoming mass convention to be held at Hailakandi on February 20, 2016. �We will also send a delegation to New Delhi to meet the Union Railway Minister,� he said, expressing the hope that the people of Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura would also join hands with the committee in fulfilling the legitimate demand.
The committee further demanded early completion of the gauge conversion works in the Karimganj-Hailakandi-Agartala segment, besides introduction of an inter-city express train between Silchar and Dibrugarh and two express trains from Silchar and Karimganj to Guwahati.
