Maligaon, 17th May, 2023:
Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has been continuously striving to provide a safer, faster and more comfortable travelling experience to the people of the North Eastern region. For that the conventional ICF model rake of train no. 02502/02501 (Agartala – Kolkata - Agartala) special has been converted to a fully Air Conditioned LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch)rake. The train with LHB coaches was flagged off on 17th May, 2023 from Agartala Railway Station at 07:30 hrs by Kumari Pratima Bhoumik, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment. Shri Prem Ranjan Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager, Lumding along with other senior officials of division were also present at Agartala Railway Station during the flagging off ceremony.
The train no. 02502 (Agartala - Kolkata) special will depart from Agartala on every Wednesday for eight trips from 17th May to 05thJuly, 2023 at 07:30 hours to reach Kolkata at 15:00 hours on the next day. In return direction, train no. 02501 (Kolkata – Agartala) special will depart from Kolkata on every Sunday for eight trips from 21st May to 09thJuly, 2023 at 21:40 hours to reach Agartala at 05:15 hours on Tuesday.
During it’s both ways journey, the special train will run via New Karimganj Jn., New Haflong, Guwahati, Goalpara Town, New Alipurduar, New Jalpaiguri Jn, Kishanganj, Malda Town, Azimganj Jn and Bandel Jn. The train will run with a revised composition consisting of 13 LHB coaches. It will have eleven state of the art AC-3 Economy Class coaches for the convenience of the passengers with two Luggage cum Generator coaches.
The newly converted coaches will be of LHB rake with AC-3 Economy coaches which is safer and more comfortable as compared to the earlier ICF coaches. These coaches have improved and modular design of seats and berth. The AC-3 Economy has 2 side berths, making it a total of 8 berths per compartment, thereby leading to increased number of seats. Moreover, the fare structure for AC-3 Economy is roughly 8% lesser than 3 AC coaches. So, passengers can travel in much cheaper than 3 AC coaches.
Further, the services of train no. 02518/02517 (Guwahati – Kolkata – Guwahati) has been extended for another eight trips. The train no. 02518 (Guwahati - Kolkata) special will depart from Guwahati on every Saturday for eight trips from 20th May to 08th July, 2023 at 21:00 hours to reach Kolkata at 15:00 hours on the next day. In return direction, train no. 02517 (Kolkata – Guwahati) special will depart from Kolkata on every Thursday for eight trips from 18th May to 06th July, 2023 at 21:40 hours to reach Guwahati at 16:15 hours on the next day.
The details of stoppages and timings of these trains are available at IRCTC website and through NTES and are also being notified in various newspapers and social media platforms of N.F. Railway. Passengers are requested to verify the details before undertaking their journey.
