Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu would pay a one-day visit to Tripura in the second week of October to lay the foundation stone for conversion of railway tracks from meter gauge to broad gauge.
Transport Minister Manik Dey, who met the Railways Minister in Delhi to discuss the progress of different railway projects of the state on September 23, on Sunday said the Union Minister had accepted his invitation to visit the state in <g data-gr-id="19">second</g> week of October. However, the date is yet to be fixed.
Dey said he had requested the Union Minister to complete the BG conversion work in time keeping in mind the poor condition of <g data-gr-id="26">national</g> highway. Dey also requested the Union Minister to arrange <g data-gr-id="24">running</g> of <g data-gr-id="25">super-fast</g> train from Agartala after conversion of the tracks.
The Indo-Bangla rail project to connect Agartala with Akhaura in Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh also came up for discussion in the meeting which was attended by Executive Director (Works) of Railways, Ved Prakash Dudeja, P Guha, the Executive Director (Coaches) and Principal Resident Commissioner, Tripura Bhavan, Delhi Rakesh <g data-gr-id="20">Sarwal</g>.
Laying stress on early release of fund for land acquisition for Agartala-Akhaura rail link, Dey said he had requested the Union Minister to release 60 per cent of funds so that land acquisition process could be taken up immediately. An amount of Rs 96-97 crore would be required for land acquisition after the NITI Aayog decided to have elevated corridor on <g data-gr-id="21">Indian</g> side to avoid maximum land acquisition.