HAFLONG: In order to promote tourism and cultural heritage of the Northeast and North Bengal; two Vistadome Tourist special train services were flagged off on Saturday.
The special Vistadome train service between Guwahati – New Haflong was flagged off in Guwahati by tourism minister Bimal Bora in the presence of MP Queen Oja, North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) chief executive member (CEM) Debolal Gorlosa.
NF Railway general manager Anshul Gupta and other senior officials along with the commissioner & secretary and director of the tourism department were also present.
In his speech Bimal Bora thanked the NF Railway authority for introducing such a world class service for the tourists visiting Assam.
Bora hoped that both international as well as domestic tourists will now be able to enjoy the abundant natural beauty of the Northeast with the fulfilment of this long standing requirement.
Tourism sectors of the area will reap the benefit of this service. He also called upon all stakeholders, especially the local people, to provide good hospitality to tourists by creating a good environment so that more and more tourists can come and enjoy themselves.
In his speech, Debolal Gorlosa hoped that this service will help in the transformation of the Dima-Hasao district and called upon people to properly maintain the clean & hygienic condition of the train so that tourists will have a comfortable trip..
Speaking on the occasion, MP Queen Oja hoped that this train will help in transformation of the tourism sector of the region. As railways are the cheapest and the cleanest mode of transportation; tourist should be encouraged to use this service.
The special Vistadome train service between Guwahati – New Haflong section will initially run two days a week – on every Wednesday and Saturday with stoppages at Manderdisa and Maibong stations. The train will depart from Guwahati at 6.35 am to reach New Haflong at 11.55 am covering a distance of 269 kms through the North Cachar Hill region.
During the return journey, the train will leave New Haflong at 5 pm to reach Guwahati at 10,45 pm.
In another function held at the New Jalpaiguri station, Vistadome special train service between New Jalpaiguri – Alipurduar Jn was flagged off by Union minister of state for minority affairs John Barla, MP Dr. Jayanta Kr. Roy, MLA Sikha Chatterjee, MLA Sankar Ghosh apart from other dignitaries were present.
Initially this train will run three days a week – on every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It will depart from New Jalpaiguri at 7-20 am to reach Alipurduar Jn at 1 pm covering a distance of 169 kms through the Dooars Hill region of North Bengal. During the return journey, the train will leave Alipurduar Jn at 2 pm to reach New Jalpaiguri at 7 pm.
The train will have stoppages at Siliguri Jn, Sivok, New Mal Jn, Chalsa, Madarihat, Hasimara and Raja Bhatkhawa stations.
