Lumding–Sabroom section


The Lumding–Sabroom section is a railway line under Lumding railway division of Northeast Frontier Railway zone of Indian Railways. It is a single broad-gauge track from Lumding in Hojai district of Assam state to Agartala, the capital of Tripura state. The long segment from Agartala southwards to Udaipur, Tripura was completed in 2016 and became operational on 23 January 2017. The remaining long track to Sabroom at the bank of Feni River at Bangladesh border was completed in 2019 and became operational on 3 October 2019.

History

The British introduced 6 important trains after the long Guwahati-Lumding- MG line was completed in 1914. These were 2 MG trains between Guwahati and Silchar, 1 MG train between Silchar & Sylhet, 1 MG Train between Silchar & Dhaka, 1 MG Train between Dhaka & Hailakandi & 1 between Guwahati & Dhaka. In 1947 after partition, 4 trains were permanently withdrawn with only 2 MG trains between Guwahati and Silchar running until 1992. After conversion of Guwahati–Lumding to broad gauge in 1992, the originating and ending station of these train was changed to Lumding. Post partition, Railway service was established in Tripura in 1964 by constructing metre gauge track from Karimganj to Dharmanagar and Kailashahar in Tripura, but the track did not connect the state capital Agartala. The foundation stone of the KumarghatAgartala railway line project was laid in 1996. The long segment from Manu to Agartala became operational in 2008. It was a meter-gauge single track without electrification. The 5695/15696 Lumding-Agartala Express was started in 2008. In 2014, all trains were stopped & the line was converted to broad gauge in 2016. A new -long track was laid from Agartala to Udaipur, Tripura in 2017. The remaining long track to Sabroom at the bank of Feni River at Bangladesh border was completed by 2019 and became operational on 3 October 2019.

Important stations

Railway lines to Manipur and Mizoram

On June–July 2025, Indian Railways has successfully completed Bairabi - Sairang Broad Gauge Railway line linking Mizoram. The railway connection to Imphal is in progress & completed till Khongsang. Important stations in these routes are:-
- Silchar Section:-,, & Silchar. This section is long with max speed allowance.
Silchar - Sairang Section:- Silchar,,, Hailakandi, Lalabazar, Bairabi, Sairang. This section is long, with Bairabi - Sairang part of is just completed & undergoing trial runs for introducing 20507/20508 Sairang-Anand Vihar Terminal Rajdhani Express.
Silchar - Imphal Section: - Silchar,,, Vangaichungpao, Rani Gaidinliu, Thingou, Khongsang. This section is completed upto Khongsang & is long. 12097/12098 Agartala - Khongsang Janshatabdi Express runs on this route.

Future construction

The track may be extended further from Sabroom to Chittagong port which is 75 km from the India–Bangladesh border. A branch line from Agartala to Akhaura in Bangladesh, is under construction. This line will reduce the distance between Kolkata and Agartala to about, from current about via Guwahati. But Indian Government have suspended the project after 5 August 2024 owing to Political Chaos in Bangladesh.