Itanagar: In a major move to boost trade and tourism in the North East through rail connectivity, the Indian Railways has launched the Vistadome Express between Arunachal’s
Naharlagun Railway station and neighbouring Assam’s Tinsukia.
Union Minister of State for Railways and Textiles, Darshana Jardosh, along with Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Sunday flagged off the new train service, official sources said.
Taking to his Twitter, the MoS for Railways wrote: “The Naharlagun-Tinsukia Vistadome train will provide a momentous push to tourism and trade in Arunachal Pradesh. Flagged off the train today along with Hon CM Arunachal Shri @PemaKhanduBJP ji. This journey promises to be once in a lifetime experience! Come on board, India!”
On the day, the Guwahati – Naharlagun Shatabdi Express with Vistadome coach was also flagged off by the MoS for Railways along with Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma at Guwahati Railway Station and Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu at Naharlagun Railway Station. Both the locations were connected through video link.
Speaking on the occasion, Khandu expressed gratitude to the Central Government, especially Railway Ministry for introducing Vistadome services for Arunachal Pradesh.
He said the North East is already a hot destination for tourists from across the country and the world.
“Now these state-of-art Vistadome coaches will add to the attraction and tourist footfall will increase, which in turn will boost the economy of the state,” Khandu observed.
On the occasion, Khandu also inaugurated a handloom and textile centre at the Naharlagun Railway Station which will facilitate the state artisans to showcase and sell their handloom products towards attaining self-sufficiency.
“As the footfalls in rail station is high, it will help in showcasing and sale of local handloom products. Thanks to @RailMinIndia for supporting our local products. #AtmaNirbharBharat,” Khandu tweeted.
During the flag-off ceremony, Khandu was accompanied by MLA Techi Kaso and Itanagar Mayor Tame Phassang, among others.
The Vistadome coaches are equipped with state-of-the-art glass windows and all glass roofs for providing view of the open sky, mountains, tunnels, bridges, hills, tea gardens and lush green forests to the tourists. It will also have observation lounges for the purpose of site seeing. The rotational seats of the coach are designed to provide added comfort to passengers.
Coaches are also provided with digital entertainment system and Wi-Fi facilities. Tourists can enjoy the entire travel by enjoying infotainments like movies, music videos etc. Wi-Fi based passenger information system is also provided. For safety of passenger, CCTV cameras and Fire Alarm System are also installed, the Northeast Frontier Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Guneet Kaur said.
He informed that the regular services of train No. 12087/12088 Naharlagun – Guwahati – Naharlagun Shatabdi Express with Vistadome coach will resume from December 20. The train will run three days a week leaving from Naharlagun on every Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 6.45 am to reach Guwahati at 12.30 pm, and from Guwahati on every Monday, Thursday and Sunday at 1.45 pm to reach Naharlagun at 7.45 pm. The train will cover a distance of 343 km and have stoppages at Harmuti, Viswanath Charali, Rangapara North, New Misamari, Udalguri, Tangla and Rangiya stations.
Likewise, the regular services of 15907/15908 Tinsukia – Naharlagun – Tinsukia Vistadome Express will resume from December 21. The train will run five days a week departing from Tinsukia on every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 4 pm to reach Naharlagun at 9.45 pm and from Naharlagun on every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 5.30 am to reach Tinsukia at 10.40 am. The train will cover a distance of 225 km and have stoppages at New Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Dhemaji, Bordoloni, Gogamukh, Boginadi, North Lakhimpur and Harmuti stations, the NFR official said.
