DIBRUGARH, Sept 17 - Dibrugarh, where the train services began for the first time in Eastern India way back on May 1, 1882, is witnessing yet another important event in the history of Indian Railways, after being the only non-capital city in India to have the Rajdhani Express originating and terminating in it on a daily basis.
The Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express has been fitted with vacuum toilet, a facility which is till date available in aircraft only and that the trial run of the same is being carried out. Laskar Boro, the Additional Divisional Mechanical Engineer, Tinsukia Sub-Division told The Assam Tribune that the Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express, which was fitted with the vacuum toilet on experimental basis from New Delhi reached Dibrugarh yesterday.
Railway Ministry officials have stated that vacuum toilets will revolutionize toilets on the wheels and that stinking toilets in trains will soon be a thing of the past. It is gathered that beginning with Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express, some 80 express trains would soon be fitted with vacuum toilets; the global tenders for which has been called and multi-national companies from outside the country have reportedly shown interest for manufacturing and installing the toilets. It is said that the environment-friendly vacuum-based toilets consume much less water than conventional ones despite improved efficiency of the flush, aiding water conservation efforts.
Dilip Kumar Barla, a senior citizen of Dibrugarh, who has been an witness to development of the railways in this part of the country since pre-independence days said that Dibrugarh town station being a living legend in the history of Indian Railways deserves to be highlighted in this way and at the same time re-develop as a modern station with all modern amenities.
Meanwhile, Dipankar Sharma, the general secretary of the Assam Rail Passengers� Association said, �As the train is getting considerable patronage from passengers, there is enough ground for making it a twice-daily service.� It may be mentioned here that at present three different sets of Rajdhani Express trains are plying through three different routes from Dibrugarh to New Delhi with a combined frequency of 10 trains from each end per week.
