Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The Assam Rail Passengers’ Association (ARPA) has moved the Assam Government with the demand for the introduction of sub-urban train services by taking Guwahati and Dibrugarh as hubs.
An ARPA delegation comprising its general secretary Dipankar Sharma, Rajib Lochan Barthakur, and Bhubaneswar Baruah met Labour Welfare and Skill, etc., Principal Secretary Dr. B. Kalyan Chakravarthy at Janata Bhawan today.
In their memorandum, the delegation said, “We have been pursuing the demand for the introduction of sub-urban train services in Assam, taking the two major cities of Guwahati and Dibrugarh as hubs before the N.F. Railway administration and other authorities since 2002. However, N.F. Railway authorities and the Railway Board have been consistently avoiding fulfilling this legitimate demand of the common people of the state on one pretext or the other.”
The ARPA said, “Sub-urban train services, if introduced, would have benefited thousands of people who commute to Guwahati and Dibrugarh, as their daily lives are dependent mainly on train services. The common people include students, patients, office-goers, vegetable vendors, small business owners, workers in organised and unorganised sectors, etc. A sub-urban train service with Guwahati as a hub would have immensely benefited the common people of Barpeta Road, Pathsala, Nalbari, Rangiya, Tangla, Goalpara, Jagiroad, Nagaon, etc. far-flung places for earning their bread and butter and also for other purposes like medical treatment, etc.”
The ARPA delegation said, “Similarly, a sub-urban train service with Dibrugarh as the hub would have immensely benefited the common people of Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Dhemaji, Charaideo, Sivasagar, and Jorhat districts to commute for their daily needs to Dibrugarh. Although there is a pressing need for the introduction of sub-urban train services as well as more intra-state services (within the state of Assam), unfortunately, we have very painfully observed cancellations of trains as well as stoppages without citing any tangible reasons in the post COVID period. So, we fervently appeal before you to kindly take up this issue with the N. F. Railway authorities, the Railway Board, and the Union Ministry of Railways for making a better train service available to the people of our state, Assam.”
Also Read: Assam: Train cancellations due to track doubling worries ARPA (sentinelassam.com)
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