Heritage Barak Express

BARAK EXPRESS. The train from Silchar to Lumding is about 215 KM. It took around 11 hours. It has about 70% hill track and the train moves at about 20 to 30 KMPH with an extra engine in the rear. It looked like 80% of the area in North Cachar has forest cover and full of vegetation. A co-passenger told me that the train goes through 37 tunnels of various distance and about 300 bridges. One can imagine the time, effort and labour which must have gone in the civil works at the time of laying the railway track, when there were no roads, facilities, heavy machinery and earth movers. The train services started in 1903. The track has been included as a UNESCO heritage site. The new broad gauge is under construction.