Prayagraj excluded from new Rajdhani express route to Aizawl despite local demand

PRAYAGRAJ: At a time when Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, is all set to be connected with the rest of India via railways for the first time from September 13, a new Rajdhani Express will begin operations between Anand Vihar Terminal in Delhi and Sairang station, located about 20 kilometres from Aizawl.

The Rajdhani Express will initially run as a special service starting September 13, and regular weekly operations will begin from September 19, with trains departing from Sairang every Friday. From September 21, the service will operate from Anand Vihar every Sunday.Until now, visiting Aizawl from states like Uttar Pradesh required an expensive flight via Delhi—often out of reach for middle-class travellers.

With the upcoming rail route, tourists from any of the cities can now travel to Silchar and board a connecting train to Aizawl. This cost-effective and convenient journey promises to make Mizoram more accessible than ever before.The train will cover multiple stops, including important stations such as Bairabi, Hailakandi, Badarpur Junction, New Haflong, Guwahati, New Jalpaiguri, Malda Town, Sahibganj, Jamalpur, Bhagalpur, Firozpur, Patna, and Kanpur Central.

However, the railway administration decided not to include a halt at Prayagraj, a significant city with a rich railway infrastructure, despite its prominence. This omission sparked disappointment among local leaders and residents. BJP MLAs Deepak Patel and Harshvardhan Bajpai expressed surprise and dissatisfaction at Prayagraj being overlooked, especially since smaller stations like Jamalpur, Malda Town, and Sahibganj are being given stops. The MLAs announced their intention to write to the Railway Minister demanding the addition of Prayagraj as a stoppage for the new Rajdhani Express, highlighting the city’s importance as a major railway hub and administrative centre for the region.The exclusion of Prayagraj from the train’s route raised concerns about equitable development and connectivity, given the city's key role in the railway network and its socio-economic significance in Uttar Pradesh.