The authorities of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) are planning to improve the operating systems and some allied infrastructure of New Jalpaiguri (NJP), the largest and busiest station in north Bengal and the second most important station in the division after Guwahati, to buttress the expansion of railway network across the Northeast.

Over the past few years, the Indian Railways have been expanding its network in the northeastern states and intends to connect all the state capitals in due course. Trains are running from Agartala (Tripura) and Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) and work is in progress to introduce train connectivity to places like Imphal (Manipur), Kohima (Nagaland), Shillong (Meghalaya) and Aizawl (Mizoram).

“NJP has always been an important station in the principal rail route that connects the Northeast. As it is evident that train movement through this route will increase in due course, we have decided to improve the operating system of NJP station within the next three months,” Anshul Gupta, the general manager of NFR, said here on Wednesday.

Sources said Gupta has held a meeting with all senior officials of the NFR zone and discussed infrastructure issues as well as train services. In north Bengal and the Northeast, the track till Guwahati has been electrified, which is considered as a major development and can reduce the running time of trains.

“We have identified a few areas which need to be improved to introduce more trains. As a part of the programme, the signalling system, the entire operational process of the station, the infrastructure for carrying out necessary maintenance work of trains and improvement of passenger amenities are required in NJP,” said an official.

The general manager also spoke about the upcoming Ghum Festival, a fest that has been planned by the NFR to promote the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway — a world heritage mountain railway recognised by the Unesco.

The festival has been planned for November and will continue till the first week of December. The idea is to draw more tourists to Darjeeling hills and also include local residents in the plan for conservation of the DHR toy train and its other assets, which are all part of the heritage.

“We want to portray the glory of this century-old world heritage train, which started its journey in 1881, before the people. Sharing its memories with the people, developing the DHR museum at Kurseong and the promotion of DHR are some of the objectives for hosting the fest,” said Gupta.