GUWAHATI, July 9 - Passenger train services in the Belonia-Sabroom section in Tripura is expected to start shortly.
�Notwithstanding many challenges, the Belonia-Sabroom new line project has been completed by the Railway officials. Passenger trains will start running soon in the section,� Susen Kumar Ojah, Senior Public Relations Officer of Northeast Frontier Railway (Construction), told The Assam Tribune.
It is noteworthy that the newly-constructed railway track from Belonia to Sabroom had recently received the green signal from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS).
�To connect the remote end of South Tripura, a new line project between Agartala and Sabroom (114.6 km) was sanctioned by the Ministry of Railways during 2007-08. The railway line from Agartala to Sabroom passes through four districts of Tripura, including West Tripura, Sepahijala, Gomati and South Tripura. The stretch beyond Agartala and up to Belonia (75 km) was commissioned in phases. The commissioning of the stretch between Agartala and Udaipur was done in January 2017 and that between Udaipur and Garjee was done in January 2018. The portion between Garjee and Belonia was commissioned in February this year,� Ojah said.
He said that the last portion, between Belonia and Sabroom (39 km), included construction of a 686 metre-long tunnel between Belonia and Julaibari.
�Several challenges were encountered during execution of the project. The tunnel passes through sandy strata and it caved in during construction leading to huge water ingress and collapse of support structure. All the quarry-based materials like ballast, boulder and blanketing material, had to be brought from Assam as they are not available in Tripura. As Monsoon in the area is long the gap of working period is only four or five months a year. Our team was able to overcome all obstacles,� Ojah claimed.
He added that a separate Goods Yard with unloading facility on both sides has been developed at Sabroom station.
�Once Chittagong port is connected with Sabroom, trade between India and Bangladesh will get a boost. It will also accelerate the economic development of Tripura . The nearest port in India from Agartala via the inland route is 1,702 km away whereas Chittagong, once connected, will be only 207 km from Agartala,� said the NFR(C) SPRO.
The total sanctioned cost of the entire Agartala-Sabroom project was Rs 3,407.03 crore and the expenditure till date is Rs 3,323.07 crore.
