GUWAHATI, 5 Jan: Tourist circuit trains will be introduced in the northeast, covering all prominent locations of the region, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said.
According to a release issued by the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), Vaishnaw, who visited Guwahati on Tuesday, also said that a study to increase rail connectivity in the northeastern states was underway.
Promoting the rich heritage of northeast and showcasing its beautiful culture to the entire world has been an endeavour of the Railways, Vaishnaw said.
He pointed out that five Vistadome services have already been introduced towards the goal of giving tourism a boost in the region.
He added that studies are being conducted to establish strategic railway lines to highlight the beauty of northeast, and start more passenger, intercity and Jan Shatabdi Express-like trains.
The release said the minister also underlined that electrification of railway track has been completed up to Guwahati and further work is in progress.
Maintaining that there was no shortage of funds, Vaishnaw said Rs 7,000 crore has been allocated this year for the ongoing railway projects in the northeast.
Vaishnaw, who also holds the communications, electronics and IT portfolio, stated that work to provide high speed Internet in the entire region is going on.
“An out-of-the-box experiment was conducted for 10 GB internet connectivity from Coxbazar international landing station (Bangladesh) to Agartala through BSNL. The experiment has been extremely successful and now we will be further extending this,” he said.
The minister stated that efforts to equip every village in the northeast with digital telecom connectivity are in progress.
“Scientific survey and GIS mapping are on to identify locations for telecom connectivity in every village,” he added. (PTI)
