The Arunachal capital on Monday was put on the country's railway map with the first passenger train of about 400 commuters arriving at Naharlagun near Itanagar.
The train with 10 passengers and two goods compartments, towed by a diesel engine, left Dekargaon at 7 AM and arrived at Itanagar at 12.30 PM, covering a distance of 181 km.
"It is a great day for Arunachal Pradesh," C D Sharma, who had bought the first ticket for Naharlagun at Dekargaon railway station for Rs 35 said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced introducing train service in his package for the state on January 31, 2008.
Informing about the arrival of the train, Chief Minister Nabam Tuki during an election rally in Itanagar on Sunday announced that Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express would be introduced soon to link Arunachal to national capital Delhi.
The ambitious 20-km railway line project had missed its target of December, 2011. The engine made its maiden trial run from Harmutty to Naharlagun terminus on January 14 last while a high level team led by the Planning Commission member (North East and Power) B K Chaturvedi had inspected the Harmutty-Naharlagun on January 17 last.
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