Agartala: The North East Frontier Railway (NFR) has decided to run Kisan Special trains from Agartala to Howrah and Sealdah from February 11, for the benefit of the farmers and transporters of NE Region, an official said.
Kisan Special Train will leave from Agartala at 1915 hours once a week on Thursday and will reach Sealdah on Saturday.
The train will have stoppages at Dharmanagar, Badarpur, Lumding, Guwahati, Kamakhya, Goalpara, New Bongaigaon, New Alipurduar, New Coochbehar, New Jalpaiguri, Malda Town, Khaltipur, Bardhaman and Bandel for loading/unloading, a statement issued by NF Railway said.
The Indian Railways has started running Kisan Rail train services to transport perishables and agri-product, including milk, meat and fish, the statement issued by Chief PRO, NF Railway, Subhanan Chanda said.
These Kisan special trains are run on time-tabled paths and their punctuality is strictly being monitored to avoid any en-route detentions and delays.
This multi-commodity, multi-consignor/consignee, multi-loading/unloading transportation product is aimed at providing a wider market to our Kisans, it said.
Commodities which may be transported via Kisan Rail are tea, rubber, turmeric, black pepper, mustard, soybean, betel nut, oranges, pineapple, ginger, kiwi, passion fruit, chillies(green), large cardamom and fruits and vegetables.
A subsidy of 50 per cent is being granted on the transportation of fruits and vegetables via Kisan trains.
The primary objective of running Kisan special trains is to increase the income in the farm sector by connecting production centres to markets and consumption centres, the statement said.