AGARTALA: President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday flagged off two trains -- Agartala-Guwahati-Kolkata Special Express and Jan Shatabdi Express, which would run from Agartala to Khongsang in Manipur.
The President, accompanied by Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, flagged off the two trains of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) at Agartala railway station, on the outskirts of the capital city.
The President's office in a tweet said: "President Droupadi Murmu flagged off Agartala-Khongsang Jan Shatabdi Express and Agartala-Kolkata Express from Agartala Railway station. The trains connecting Tripura to Assam, West Bengal and Manipur will boost connectivity and tourism in the North East region."
NFR's Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Sabyasachi De said that in order to further improve rail connectivity of Tripura with the rest of the country, the Guwahati-Kolkata-Guwahati Express train extended up to Tripura's capital Agartala once in a week.
The express train would run with a composition of 14 coaches. During its regular run, the express train (Agartala-Kolkata) would depart from Agartala every Wednesday morning to reach Kolkata the next day afternoon. In the return direction, the train would depart from Kolkata every Sunday to reach Agartala on Tuesday evening.
The CPRO said that the Jan Shatabdi Express train between Agartala to Jiribam up to Khongsang in Manipur would operate thrice a week -- Monday, Wednesday & Friday. This section has been newly constructed under the 110-km-long Jiribam- Imphal new line project.
De said that the train journey (Agartala to Khongsang) travel time would be less than half as the journey time would be around seven hours covering a distance of 300 km against around 15 hours or so by road.
The Jan Shatabdi Express train would be having new Link Hofmann Busch coaches with the latest amenities for passengers, he said, adding that a Vistadome coach has also been added to this train to facilitate the passenger to witness the picturesque scenery of the mountainous region during the journey.
The Vistadome coaches with transparent glass windows and roofs providing 360-degree views are equipped with state-of-the-art glass windows and all glass roofs for providing a view of the sky, mountains, tunnels, bridges, hills, tea gardens and lush green forests to the travellers.
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