The Beautiful Barail Line

We begin our trip from Lumding, where a YDM-4 class loco emerges out of the freight yard to take a new assignment (Harish)

The meter gauge section of Lumding bustling with activities. (Harish)

The TTE of Hill Queen keeps an eye to prevent unauthorized passengers entering the reserved coaches. (Naveen)

First crossing of the day, with Cachar Express. (Naveen)

In the hill section, stations are at lower levels. Passengers had to climb up to reach the main roads. (Harish)

At Manderdisa, as the hill queen express waited, a classic liveried YDM-4 sneaked in with a freight train. (Harish)

BG line construction in full swing. The BG alignment, after crossing the river, enters a tunnel. (Naveen)

Interiors of MG AC Chair Coach of Hill Queen Express. Hill Queen Express used to get top-priority and mostly punctual, even when other trains in the hill section used to run hours late. (Naveen)

(Harish)

Poor road infrastructure, lesser road transport means trains are reliable connectivity for the people of this region (Harish)

But poor frequency and inordinate delay of passenger trains result in the commuters making use of all the possible connections, like freight trains or light locos (Harish)

With the regular alignment washed way by the raging river, the line was slightly realigned to take a small detour. (Harish)

(Harish)

The new BG station coming up at Phiding (Naveen)

Lower Haflong bound Hill Queen Express passes through one of the century old bridges. (Naveen)

Double header freight train towards Lumding waits at Mahur (Harish)

Hill Queen Express across the Diyung Viaduct. (Harish)

A lone caboose at Lower Haflong (Harish)

(Naveen)

There is a sudden spur of activity as the Agartala - Lumding Express arrives at Lower Haflong. (Harish)

With the beautiful Barail range makes a nice background to the lower haflong station. (Naveen)

Agartala - Lumding Express gets ready to depart from Lower Haflong (Harish)

The New Haflong Railway station will replace the Lower Haflong (LFG) station as the BG alignment skips LFG altogether. We had to endure a backbreaking ride for 12 kms to reach this place. (Benhur)

Clouds kissing the Barail range. A wide angle view of New Haflong Station from Lumding end looking towards Badarpur side. (Benhur)

The new Diyung bridge is all ready for trains to roll in. (Harish)

Blue skies greet us when we reached the Diyung viaduct. Here's an eagle eye view of the famous viaduct. (Benhur)

Within few minutes, we were greeted by the morning Silchar bound Barak Valley express (Benhur)