Indian Railways’ big plan for Dimapur railway station

October 4, 2022 84 Views No Comment

NFR AGM says project afoot for airport-like world-class service

Morung Express News
Dimapur | October 4

The Indian Railways reportedly has a big plan for the Dimapur railway station— the Northeast Frontier Railways’s (NFR) second best cash cow, after Guwahati. A project to turn the station into a “world class” station, fashioned on the line of international airports, is on the works, informed Additional General Manager (AGM), NFR, Rahul Gautam.

Gautam, who was in Dimapur on October 3, told a press conference that the purpose of his visit was to discuss issues related to the project with NFR officials. The project has a completion target of December 2024 and is presently in the consultancy stage. “We are finalizing the plan with the consultant… based on that (assessment), we will decide what is to be done,” he said.

According to him, the idea of a “world class” train station is providing services and passenger amenities equivalent to that of airports, if not better, including but not limited to shopping areas, cafes and even a multiplex. Besides providing recreational facilities, he said that the idea is to streamline overall services that would meet public expectation even a hundred years down the line and creating ample commercial space for businesses to grow, which would benefit not only entrepreneurs but also the railways in terms of revenue generation.

He added, “We will create an infrastructure, a platform, which will be able to address all the present issue as well as the future issues.”

While stating that the proposed project will be of great contribution to Nagaland, he said, “The Government of India is going to invest hundreds of crores in the project, it is everybody’s responsibility that this station becomes world class.”

Shrinking rail land

But the railway authority has a troublesome land encroachment issue in Dimapur and resolving which would be a crucial element to realizing the futuristic vision. Queried on this, AGM Gautam said that there are 22 ongoing “civil suits” (court disputes) relating to encroachment of railway land in Dimapur.

He declined to comment on the area of land under adjudication, stating, “The matter is entirely sub judice. Anything which I will comment on this stage will not be advisable. Let the court decide.”

Nagaland Express
He further declined to comment on the grounds behind the rescheduling of Nagaland Express, citing it is a matter dealt by the “Operating Department.” What originally started as a train specially dedicated to servicing the Dimapur-Guwahati route, with Dimapur as the originating station, was reversed to include stations up to Dibrugarh in upper Assam. The route extension of the train implied changing the time schedule. It now starts from Guwahati at night to reach Dimapur at around 2:00 am, a reversal from the original 6:30 am start from Dimapur. In the return trip from Dibrugarh, it reaches Dimapur at around 9:30 pm.

According to him, when train routes and timing are scheduled, the convenience of the public at large as well as commercial viability has to be considered. While stating that it was perhaps more commercially viable to extend the route coverage, he said, “I am not involved in the decision making and such decisions are taken by the Railway Board. If in case, there is any issue, somebody can make a representation.”

Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/indian-railways-big-plan-for-dimapur-railway-station