Vande Bharat Express train at Guwahati Railway station before Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off its service connecting Guwahati with New Jalpaiguri on May 29. (Photo: Ministry of Railways@RailMinIndia/Twitter)
Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 4
Almost all the states are expected to be connected by India's first semi high-speed train– the Vande Bharat Express by the end of June, 2023. With quicker travel time and passenger amenities that are said to meet contemporary standards, the railways have claimed that the flagship train would revolutionise rail travel in the country.
The train was first flagged off by the PM in February 2019 on the New Delhi-Varanasi route. Operating at a maximum speed of 160 kmph the train has so far been introduced on 18 routes, connecting over a 100 districts in 22 states. As per a promotional handout, it has clocked some 38,43,934 km, as on May 21.
On May 29, the North-East also got its first Vande Bharat Express when Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off its service connecting Guwahati with New Jalpaiguri.
The 18th Vande Bharat Express service run six days a week and stop at six stations -- New Alipurduar, Kokrajhar, New Bongaigaon and Kamakhya, including New Jalpaiguri and Guwahati junctions.
It said that the Vande Bharat Express was indigenously designed to meet international safety standards, including the Train Collision avoidance system (Kavach). It is being built at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai showcasing Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's Make-in-India initiative.
“It aims to provide a totally new travel experience to passengers. Speed, Safety and Service are the hallmarks of this train,” the handout said. It claimed that it has been a hit among rail commuters, returning a relatively high occupancy rate on the routes where it has been introduced.
But wait…
But will the Vande Bharat Express be also introduced to Dimapur, Nagaland? The answer to that, however, was not so bright. While the railways are targeting to introduce it in other unreached routes by June-end, Nagaland and by extension, the upper Assam route would not be among them any time soon.
As per NFR sources, it would most likely reach only till Lumding. The reason was attributed to lack of double-line or double-track after Lumding. Double-tracks enable trains to move in both directions, while shortening and reducing stoppages, and average travel time in general.
Unchecked encroachment on railway land over the years has shrunk the land on both sides of the Dimapur railway station. As reported by The Morung Express, in 2020, citing railway insiders, the shrinking land not only implied the number of platforms at the Dimapur railway station remaining stagnant at 5, but also the state losing a proposed double track project to neighbouring Karbi Anglong. If land, as originally demarcated to the railways was available, the Dhansiri-Bokajan stretch via Dimapur would have got an additional track.
