Why the Agartala-Delhi train 'Tripura Sundari Express' is historic

The office of the Union railway minister in India occupies key place considering the "public connect" that it draws by means of announcing new trains and rail lines, fare adjustments, concessional priorities, and also as a source of India's largest public sector employment.

Historically, the colonial railway was a "key link" between production centres but it had its "positive role" in fostering national integration and promoting national mobility.

Moreover, the infamous casting out of Mahatma Gandhi in 1893 from a train in South Africa is as big a landmark in time as has been the war against "apartheid and discrimination".

The recent announcement of Tripura Sundari Express which was flagged off from Agartala (capital of Tripura) railway station last week heading for New Delhi is another milestone in the history of Indian railways.

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The inaugural run of train cannot be a "routine affair" of our time because it took almost 52 years after the first railway line was laid in the state of Tripura.

For the very first time, it was in 1964 that Dharmangar town in north Tripura got the first metre-gauge railway line. Later on, it was extended to Kumarghat in 2004.

The new train will run once a week and will take almost 47 hours to reach Delhi via Guwahati.

No doubt, it forms a "major step" towards the increased connectivity for Northeastern India and holds "strategic significance" too.

Noting the importance of the new railway line, Union railway minister, Suresh Prabhu, said: "Kolkata is the cultural capital of the country and Tripura has a long historic connection with it."

According to reports, Rs 968 crore was spent on the Agartala-Delhi rail link, which took priority with the newly seated government in Delhi since 2014.

It is necessary to underscore the importance of newly started railway line for Tripura and its "potential advantage" for India at large.

In the age of information and communication technology (ICT), physical connectivity too stands as one of the most important dimensions of contemporary life.

It forms a key component of the "globalisation debate" and holds significance in terms of compressing space and time.

Firstly, the announcement of the new train between Tripura and Delhi is one of the most remarkable developments towards integration of Northeast India with the "mainland".

"Poor connectivity" has been one of the chief reasons for the region's backwardness. It offers an opportunity for eastern India to be part of mainstream development process and agenda.

It was only in 2015 that Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh's capital, was finally brought on the Indian railway map. As the process unfolds, hopes remain high.

With a huge crowd of 18,000 witnessing the inaugural run of the new Delhi-Agartala train, expectations are soaring for better movement of trade, people and produce from northeast India.

It also reflects a "sense of priority" for the northeast as far as Modi government in concerned.

Moreover, the move forms a key step towards the push for "better infrastructural build-up" across India by the Union government. Centre is planning to bring all the northeastern state capitals on the railway map by 2020 and the plan is already underway.

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Secondly, the new railway link allows for another set of breakthrough for the bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh.

Once the completion of the 15km-long railway line between Agartala to Akhaura is done by 2017, it will boost New Delhi-Dhaka diplomatic links, which are in the "upswing mode" since the long-awaited swapping of enclaves between the two was accomplished with great fanfare.

This new rail link will be a key connection between the two countries. Akhaura in southeastern Bangladesh is an important railway junction, which connects Chittagong port, resource-rich Sylhet and Dhaka.

Moreover, by making Bangladesh "partner in development", India has been able to achieve an upper hand against insurgents in the northeastern states, which have for long used the Bangladeshi territory for their anti-India objectives.

"We want to develop railway network in the entire northeast and want to make it a tourist hub. We want to bring Bangladesh into the same tourist circuit," Suresh Prabhu said.

Thirdly, the new railway line is an important pillar for India's search for "greater connectivity" between northeast India and neighbouring countries. This is because India plans to open links between the states in the northeast and South East Asia.

India is already looking at plans to complete a road link from its Northeast through Myanmar to Thailand.

Once fully operational, the Delhi-Tripura-Sabroom-Akhaura link is expected to facilitate transit from Chittagong and Mongla ports to India.

"Chittagong is the best port in Asia. We want to connect an Indian railways track with Chittagong port through Sabroom," said Prabhu.

The better infrastructure facilities in its Northeast hold key to India's "Act East" strategy.

In a "tactical shift" from the earlier UPA-driven "Look East" policy to now the "Act East" strategy under Modi government, India has set its goal of "linking east first" as its policy priority.

If all goes well, India's "neighbourhood cooperation" will have both economic as well as strategic benefits.

In sum, the new rail link offers a "win-win" situation both for India's Northeast region and the neighbouring countries, facilitating increased trade and people-to-people contact in a road towards "collective prosperity".