AGARTALA, July 3 � The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has set a mission to connect all the State capitals of North East by 2017 next.
Aiming to achieve the target which has already been included in the Vision 2020 document, the NFR is working on war-footing, said its General Manager (Construction) Bijaya Kanti said here on Saturday.
Terming the job is most challenging, the GM said if the plan goes in the right direction, the State capitals of seven NE States will have a rail network by the stipulated time. Currently, Guwahati and Agartala have rail connectivity.
The laying of railway tracks from Agartala to Udaipur would be completed by 2012 and from Udaipur to Sabroom by March, 2014, said she.
Besides, conversion of broad-gauge tracks in Lumding-Agartala section will be completed by December 2013, Vijaya Kanta said after having a review meeting with Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Saturday.
Vijaya Kanta said, the NFR had taken initiatives through its Lumding division to improve the passenger services in the region. She added that geological conditions would not affect the progress of the construction works though frequent political strikes and unrest in the North Cachar Hills in Assam had disrupted the smooth works of railway construction. �In spite of problems, 60 per cent work has so far been completed on the Lumding-Badarpur section�, she said.
Giving details of Agartala-Akhaura rail link, she said the Indian portion of tracks would be Broad-Gauge (BG) while Bangladesh side would be �Metre Gauge� tracks.
