AGARTALA, September 19 (TIWN): The countdown of the Tripura Railway network to go for shutdown begins from Sunday; from Sunday no passenger trains will arrive at the Agartala station for more than six months as the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) would undertake broad gauge conversion work on October 1.Tripura public on Saturday waved their last good bye to the passengers of the meter gauge train. The Railway staff and the people present of their expressed sorrow over the shutdown of the Meter Gauge but on the other hand they are also happy to welcome the Broad Gauge.After the independence of India, Agartala pinned on the country’s railway map in the year 2008 and after 8-year of prolonged wait finally the Tripura Railway is going for BG Conversion.In order to engrave the memory of the first railway arrival in Tripura the Railway Authority of Tripura is planning to place a Steam engine at the Railway station, said Station Manager Pranay Ananda.The shutdown will be called due to the construction work of the 'Mega Block' for conversion of railway line from meter gauge to broad gauge. Therefore, both goods trains and Passengers trains will be stopped between Agartala Section and Karimganj. Except some railway employees led by Agartala station manager Paramananda Das and some curious locals, there was no VIP or important functionaries to see off the last train as the 10 bogie rake with 953 passengers on board quietly pulled out of Agartala station at around 9.30 am for Karimganj in southern Assam.

Reportedly, the last passenger train which has left from Agartala with passengers in it is bearing the registration number 6745YDM4.

However, the BG conversion work will begin from October 1 and in the meantime the bogies of the train will be cleared from the tracks of several areas.

Biswajit Saha, Hawker said that it is great that Tripura is going for BG conversion but it also sad that we have to stay without train service for many days. “Besides, with the shutdown of the Rail service my business is also going to hamper. It is the only means of the livelihood of my family”, said Saha.

Train Diver, Shudhangshu Ghosh said “we are glad that Tripura is going to have BG but it is my bad luck that I cannot drive the BG Train as I am going to retire on December”.

The 'Mega Block' has been granted to get complete by 2016 to complete the entire conversion work of the Karimgaunj-Agartala section.

The preliminary work for undertaking the gauge conversion work has already been done in consultation with all stakeholders.

Despite the state has a buffer stock of food grains according to the government statement, in view of the filthy condition of the NH-44 road it is expected that the transportation of essential commodities and construction materials for the ongoing project works in state would be badly hit due to the shutdown of rail service.

The poor condition of the NH-44, Agartala-Assam had already created chaos and had continued for many days. Due to which several truck and vehicles were strand on the road as they were unable to cross the road because of the deplorable condition of the road.

Despite of several hue and cries over the deplorable condition of the NH-44 in various parts of the state, the authorities are playing a silent spectator role. Therefore, the traders as well as the public are also facing trouble.

Allegedly it has lead to price hike of various essential commodities which includes- petrol, vegetables and many others.

Connecting the NE Tripura with the rest of India however a dream comes true despite the fact that state lacks an alternative communication system.

Besides, prices of air fare are also on hike from Agartala to Kolkata which is giving a hectic time to the public of the State. Therefore, the people having no other option the people has to opt for the Air way despite of hefty fare amount or else they have to go by road which is a bit not time consuming.