Agartala, Mar 10 (Reporter) Ministry of Railways has included four stations of Tripura for upgrading with state-of-the-art facilities and world-class standards under the Amrit Bharat Station scheme, Rajya Sabha MP from Tripura Rajib Bhattacharjee said on Monday. He said the railway arrived at Tripura in 1964 at Dharmanagar in North Tripura, bordering the town of Assam. Later, it extended to Kumarghat, but in 1996, railway expansion work began connecting the capital city, Agartala. The narrow gauge train service was started in 2007 in the state, with a commitment from the then government that within five years, a broad gauge track laying would be completed. “Unfortunately, it did not happen because of the neglect of Congress government in the centre. Within a year after Modiji became Prime Minister, gauge conversion work between Badarpur (South Assam) and Agartala was completed, and passenger train service with Kolkata began in 2016,” Bhattacharjee stated. Despite all odds and halts due to COVID19 for two years, Tripura has been connected with Guwahati, Kolkata, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Deoghar, and a few other cities of central India by express and superfast trains, including Tejas, by 2022. At present, 19 trains including six superfast trains have been operating from Agartala, which will be further improved very soon, he pointed out. Bhattacharjee maintained that as part of a larger initiative to modernise railway infrastructure across the NorthEast, Prime Minister has connected all the states of the region by a stable railway network. Four stations of the state have been included in the most ambitious Amrit Bharat Station scheme, which aims to introduce modern designs, facilities, and passenger amenities. The Railway Ministry has recently reiterated its commitment to transforming four railway stations in Tripura under this scheme, he said, adding, “An amount of Rs 32.6 crore for Dharmanagar (North Tripura), Rs 30.2 crore for Kumarghat (Unakoti), Rs 35 crore for Agartala (West Tripura), and Rs 33.8 crore was earmarked for Udaipur (Gomati) stations...////...