Railway services in Tripura and some other sectors in the northeast would come to a standstill from October 1 with Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) announcing a ‘mega block’ for gauge conversion. The work suspension is likely to create serious difficulties in carrying passengers and commodities to the landlocked State.
Fearing a crisis, the Tripura government and the ruling CPI (M) have urged the Ministry of Railways to reduce the timeframe for gauge conversion work. The NFR has already announced the decision to suspend the services in Agartala – Lumding and Silchar Lumding routes.
The meter gauge track, running through steep hills, laid by British was as old as 70 years. An NFR official said engineers took 10 years to commission the service in this ‘inhospitable sector’ to facilitate trade activities of a few British companies.
Despite some problems, the route immensely helped transportation of passengers and commodities to Tripura, Mizoram and the lower parts of Assam.
“We have made an appeal to the Centre to reduce time for completion of gauge conversion work,” Minister Manik Dey said, adding that they feared the NFR schedule may take two years to complete.
The situation is likely to aggravate if damage to the Assam-Agartala national highway is not attended to before NFR’s mega block. Plying of vehicles was disrupted on the highway due to heavy rain water stagnation and mudslides near the Sonarpur area.
Anticipating difficulties, people of the State have started booking of air tickets. However, a few airliners are not operating flights regularly though Agartala has the second commercially important airport after Guwahati in the northeast.
