Railway minister flags off Jan Shatabdi Express connecting Tripura, Manipur

The Jan Shatabdi Express will run between Agartala railway station at Badharghat and Jiribam railway station in Manipur thrice a week. The journey will take six hours.

AGARTALA: Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday flagged off the Jan Shatabdi Express between Agartala and Jiribam connecting two northeastern states, Tripura and Manipur.

Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off the Agartala - Jiribam Jan Shatabdi Express through video conferencing mode (Image posted on Twitter by Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb)

The Jan Shatabdi Express will run between Agartala railway station at Badharghat and Jiribam railway station in Manipur thrice a week. The journey will take six hours.

Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off the train through video conferencing mode, and said that the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working to develop the connectivity of the Northeast region and the country.

Chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb, during the event, said that Tripura and Manipur shares both cultural and matrimonial relations as three of Tripura queens were from Manipur. These two states have again joined through railway lines, he added.

“Attended the launch of 12097/Agartala - Jiribam Jan Shatabdi Express by Hon’ble Union Minister for Railways Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw Ji.

Launch of this train is a step ahead in fulfilling Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji’s vision of making North East the AshtaLakshami of the country’s economy.

Connecting North Eastern states with rail routes will open new avenues of economic activities in the region,” Deb wrote on his Facebook.

Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh said, “Tripura and Manipur has relation since royal period. The railway line, not only connected Tripura and Manipur, but also the entire northeast region.”

Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment Pratima Bhowmik, Tripura transport minister Pranajit Singha Roy, BJP legislator Mimi Majumder and others joined the inaugural event in Tripura, while minister of state for external affairs and education Dr. R. Ranjan Singh, chief minister N. Biren Singh and others joined the event in Imphal.

Besides the Jan Shatabdi Express, Tripura has Rajdhani Express, Tripurasundari Express, Kanchanjungha Express, Humsafar Express, Secundrabad Express, Deoghar Express, Rani Kamalapati-Agartala Express along with Silchar-Agartala special train.