Foundation of Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) Shed And Depot Laid

GUWAHATI: Rajen Gohain, Union Minister of State of Railways, laid the foundation stone for construction of one Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) train shed at Lumding on Monday. This DEMU shed would be upgraded to Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) shed once electrification of railway track is carried out. He also laid the foundation stone for construction of one new coaching depot there. Sibu Misra, MLA / Lumding, Sanjive Roy / General Manager, NF Railway and other senior railway officials were also present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion Rajen Gohain said that more and more long-distance trains will start from Lumding in future, as Guwahati station has become very cramped for introducing any further long-distance trains. He also said that one southbound train has been planned to run from Silghat shortly. “More flyovers will come up in places like Jamunamukh, Kanpur and nearby areas of Lumding”, he announced. He hoped that with the setting up of DEMU shed and coaching depot at Lumding, local un-employed youths with get scope for employment in various segments.

Sibu Misra, MLA / Lumding in his speech thanked Rajen Gohain for taking the initiatives for setting up of the DEMU shed and coaching depot at Lumding. He said that with the setting up of the shed and depot, local youth will surely get opportunity for direct and in-direct employment.

An amount of Rs 88.39 crore has been sanctioned for setting up of the depot. Lumding DEMU (Diesel Electric Multiple Unit) base depot will primarily serve requirements of Lumding and Tinsukia divisions. DEMU operations over NF Railway have been planned with maintenance support at Siliguri and Lumding as base depots and Tinsukia and Agartala as satellite depot. Further depots at Katihar and Rangapara will come up later. The Lumding base depot together with satellite depots will be able to hold more than 30 DEMU rakes to meet the passenger train requirement of the area. Presently NF Railway has 24 DEMU rakes which are likely to go up soon in view of Railway Board’s policy of replacing conventional rakes with DEMU rakes, a press stated.

Similarly, with the extension of new lines to the state capitals of Tripura (Agartala), Nagaland, (Zubza / Kohima), Manipur (Imphal), Mizoram (Sairang / Aizwal) the need to develop a coaching Terminal at Lumding has become essential. Passengers from the various destinations of NE region will reach Lumding and catch long distance trains bound to Kolkata, Delhi, Banglore / Chennai and Mumbai etc. Further, with the connectivity to Akhura and Maishashan, in Lumding Division, passengers from Bangladesh will also avail this facility from Lumding.

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