Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) has achieved 100 per cent electrification of the 271-km-long stretch of railway tracks from Dharmanagar in North Tripura district to Sabroom, which is the southernmost tip of Indian territory before Bangladesh, Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath said on Wednesday.
In his speech during the inaugural ceremony of 132 KV transmission lines and 132 KV feeder bays for railway traction electrification at the Agartala railway station complex, the state minister said the project was executed with a Rs 58.28-crore Central Government fund.
Ratan Lal Nath said that while trains shifted from coal to diesel to reduce pollution, electric trains would be the next big step in ensuring faster travel, lower travel and freight charges, environmental awareness, and a much-needed boost to tourism and the state’s economy.
Recounting Tripura’s railway journey, Ratan Lal Nath said that train services first reached North Tripura in 1964, but the state capital of Agartala had to wait for 44 more years. Train services reached Sabroom in South Tripura district in 2019.
“Tripura’s railway network was transformed under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, from the erstwhile meter-gauge services to broad-gauge services or the Indo-Bangla international railway services back in 2023,” the power minister said.
Nineteen express trains reach Tripura, carrying nearly 12,000 passengers.
