<p>The Railways scripted a new chapter in south Assam on Saturday after the first passenger train on the newly laid broad gauge line between Silchar and Lumding was flagged off via a remote control by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. </p>.<p><br />The first passenger train chugged out of Silchar Railway station on Saturday morning, ending decades of isolation of southern Assam from the broad-gauge network. The government has made north-eastern states a priority as far as rail and road connectivity is concerned. <br /><br />The Railways will continue its focus on developing rail connectivity in the north-eastern states. All state capitals in the north-east will be connected by rail, Prabhu said.<br /> The move has been inspired by the fact that China, on the other side of the border, has developed the highest level of connectivity. <br /><br />These states are strategically important because borders of Bangladesh and Myanmar also touch these states. <br /><br />Railways sources said the passenger train will cover a distance of 210 km in eight hours to reach Guwahati through Lumding, reducing the travelling time by four hours. Earlier, on a meter–gauge line laid during the British era, it took 12 hours to cover the same distance.<br /><br />“People of south Assam are getting important railway connectivity with rest of the nation. Today, we are introducing a new train between Guwahati and Silchar after conversion of Lumding-Silchar metre gauge line into broad gauge,” the minister said while addressing thousands of people, who had gathered in the Silchar railway station, over a video-conference system.<br /><br />Broad gauge connectivity to Silchar will not only benefit southern Assam but also neighbouring states of Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur.<br /><br />Goods trains have been running on this newly laid broad-gauge section since March 2015. <br /><br />“Rail connectivity to north-eastern states has been made a mission by the new government, as we provided an all-time high budget allotment of Rs 5,200 crore to the projects in this region in 2014-15 which is over 50 per cent more than 2013-14. This tempo has been maintained in 2015-16 also by providing Rs 5,300 crore,” Prabhu added.<br /></p>
<p>The Railways scripted a new chapter in south Assam on Saturday after the first passenger train on the newly laid broad gauge line between Silchar and Lumding was flagged off via a remote control by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. </p>.<p><br />The first passenger train chugged out of Silchar Railway station on Saturday morning, ending decades of isolation of southern Assam from the broad-gauge network. The government has made north-eastern states a priority as far as rail and road connectivity is concerned. <br /><br />The Railways will continue its focus on developing rail connectivity in the north-eastern states. All state capitals in the north-east will be connected by rail, Prabhu said.<br /> The move has been inspired by the fact that China, on the other side of the border, has developed the highest level of connectivity. <br /><br />These states are strategically important because borders of Bangladesh and Myanmar also touch these states. <br /><br />Railways sources said the passenger train will cover a distance of 210 km in eight hours to reach Guwahati through Lumding, reducing the travelling time by four hours. Earlier, on a meter–gauge line laid during the British era, it took 12 hours to cover the same distance.<br /><br />“People of south Assam are getting important railway connectivity with rest of the nation. Today, we are introducing a new train between Guwahati and Silchar after conversion of Lumding-Silchar metre gauge line into broad gauge,” the minister said while addressing thousands of people, who had gathered in the Silchar railway station, over a video-conference system.<br /><br />Broad gauge connectivity to Silchar will not only benefit southern Assam but also neighbouring states of Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur.<br /><br />Goods trains have been running on this newly laid broad-gauge section since March 2015. <br /><br />“Rail connectivity to north-eastern states has been made a mission by the new government, as we provided an all-time high budget allotment of Rs 5,200 crore to the projects in this region in 2014-15 which is over 50 per cent more than 2013-14. This tempo has been maintained in 2015-16 also by providing Rs 5,300 crore,” Prabhu added.<br /></p>