January 6, 2018 TnH Global

Humsafar Express takes off from Agartala to Bengaluru

The Humsafar Express, a weekly superfast luxury train to run between Agartala and Bengaluru, was flagged off from here on Friday. Equipped with the most modern facilities, the 14-coach Humsafar Express is scheduled to take 63 hours to complete a leg of its journey, crossing Kamakhya, Howrah, Cuttack and Vijaywada.

The train is scheduled to halt at seven stations between Agartala and Guwahati and at 26 stations between Agartala and Bengaluru Cantonment station, said a Northeastern Frontier Railway (NFR) official. The train has been running between Kamakhya and Bengaluru from December 2016 onwards. Now its service has been extended up to here.

Union minister of state for railways, Rajen Gohain, who formally flagged off the train’s first trip, said, “The northeastern states of the nation have been undergoing tremendous development in connectivity since the Modi government came to power at the Centre. It is the commitment of this government to connect the southern town of Sabroom near the border by this year.” An Agartala-Jharkhand train service will also be flagged off soon, Gohain added.

The Humsafar Express has three-tier air conditioned Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches with features like LED screens to show information about nearby stations, train speed, an announcement system, vending machines for beverages, bio-toilets and CCTV cameras. NFR officials said the train has an extensive fire and smoke detection system with CCTV cameras fitted in each compartment. A GPS-based display system at each end of the coaches shows real-time information about the exact location of the train and the distance from the next station.

Agartala has been getting a weekly Rajdhani express service for two months.