MALIGAON, Oct 14: The General Manager of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), Chetan Kumar Shrivastava held a meeting with the Members of Parliament (MPs) whose constituencies are served by Rangiya and Lumding divisions, at Guwahati today.
Altogether, 11 MPs were present at the meeting which included Rajya Sabha MP Bhubaneswar Kalita from Assam; MPs of Lok Sabha Kamakhya Prasad Tasa (Kaziranga), Kripanath Mallah (Karimganj), Phani Bhusan Choudhury (Barpeta), Ranjit Dutta (Sonitpur), Parimal Suklabaidya (Silchar), S Supongmeren Jamir (Nagaland), Amarsing Tisso (Diphu), Alfred Kanngam S Arthur (Outer Manipur), Bijuli Kalita Medhi (Guwahati) and Saleng A Sangma (Tura).
Divisional Railway Manager of Rangiya, Anant Sadashiva and Divisional Railway Manager of Lumding, Samir Lohani along with senior railway officials of N F Railway headquarters were also present.
Coordinated by Anurag Agarwal, Dy General Manager (G)/NFR, the meeting aimed to apprise the MPs about the developmental works undertaken by N F Railway and to encourage constructive feedback from public representatives for better service delivery.
While welcoming the MPs, the GM/NFR highlighted the achievements and ongoing initiatives of the zone. He informed that N F Railway presently has a total railway network of 7,362 Track Kilometres (TKM) and several new line projects are under implementation to further expand this network in the North Eastern Region. The GM further mentioned that N F Railway has made remarkable progress towards achieving 100% railway electrification. Over 90% of the network has already been electrified and prestigious trains such as the Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express and Naharlagun–New Delhi Express are now operating with end-to-end electric traction. He also informed that double line work has been completed on key sections such as New Bongaigaon–Agthori, New Bongaigaon–Azara and Guwahati–Lumding, while doubling up to New Tinsukia has already been sanctioned. In addition, a new bridge over the river Brahmaputra near the existing Saraighat Bridge and a third line between Kamakhya and Guwahati have been approved for construction.
The GM emphasized that N F Railway operates one of the most complex rail networks in the country, passing through challenging hilly terrains, with the highest number of tunnels, bridges and the longest elephant corridors across the Indian Railways system. Highlighting recent achievements, he stated that Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, has been connected to the railway network for the first time and freight train operations have commenced from Molvom in Nagaland. He added that N F Railway is also adopting modern AI-based technologies to enhance infrastructure safety, passenger comfort and wildlife protection.
He further informed that station upgradation under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme is in progress at 92 stations across N F Railway, including 60 stations in the Northeast. Notably, Haibargaon Station in Assam has become the first Amrit Station in the Northeast, inaugurated by the Prime Minister.
The MPs, actively participating in a productive interactive session with senior NFR officials, put forth valuable suggestions regarding the extension and improvement of railway connectivity, upgradation of stations and preservation of heritage railway assets.
In response, the GM acknowledged the suggestions and assured that they would be implemented to the extent feasible.