Morung Express News
Shokhuvi | August 26
The direct rail connectivity between Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland was established on August 26 with the inaugural flagging off of the extended Donyi Polo Express from here at Shukhovi Railway Station.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio officially flagged off the inaugural run in the presence of cabinet colleagues including Ministers Jacob Zhimomi, Paiwang Konyak and the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) officials led by General Manager Anshul Gupta, among others.
The Donyi Polo Express currently runs daily between Guwahati in Assam and Naharlagun, located few kilometres away from Arunachal capital Itanagar.
However, the services have now been extended up to Shukhovi, the second railway station of Nagaland, located around 25 kilometres away from Dimapur, and 13 Km from district headquarters Chümoukedima.
As per the NFR, the regular daily service will start both ways from August 27 and connect three states as the train passes through major stations of Assam.
From Shokhuvi, the train will depart daily at 5:45 pm to reach Naharlagun, the next day at 6:45 am. Likewise, the train will depart from Naharlagun daily at 7:50 pm to reach Shokhuvi the next day at 9:30 am. Information on Indian Railways ticket booking portal informed that the distance between the two stations is 579 kms and the durations of journey is around 13 hours from Shokhuvi and 13:40 hours from Naharlagun.
There are stoppages at 20 major stations during the journey including Diphu, Lumding Jn, Guwahati, Kamakhya, Rangiya Jn, Viswanath Charali, Harmuti in Assam and Gumto in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Donyi Polo Express comprises of Second Sitting, Sleeper, AC 3 Tier, AC 2 Tier and AC First Class coaches.
Time-table: Donyi Polo Express Sukhovi- Naharlagun
