Agartala, Jan 12: The gap between government development announcements and ground reality has never been more evident than on the newly upgraded Agartala-Silchar Express. While authorities highlight the introduction of modern LHB coaches as progress, passengers face deteriorating travel conditions marked by extreme overcrowding that began immediately after the January 1, 2026 upgrade, which reportedly reduced the train’s total coach count by three.
A journalist from Dhalai district who regularly uses the service documented the cascading problems caused by the upgrade. The reduction in coaches has reportedly created a domino effect where passengers failed to find space in unreserved second class compartments are forced into higher-class compartments where they travel with a constant fear of Train Ticket Examiner (TTE) even with having genuine ticket.
“Those with unreserved tickets didn’t board second class coaches due to overcrowding, so they filled up the sleeper class and even chair car compartments,” the journalist stated what he observed.
The journalist described his January 5, 2026 journey from Jogendranagar to Ambassa as exceptionally challenging, with every compartment packed beyond capacity. However, his January 12, 2026 experience proved even more alarming when he failed to deboard at his destination despite traveling in a chair car. “Even though I had a reserved seat in chair car, I couldn’t get off because the train stoppage time was too short and the crowd was too dense,” he explained.
The overcrowding situation reportedly escalates as the train progresses along its route, picking up more passengers at each station without adequate capacity to accommodate them. It is learned that multiple passengers, including families and government officials, have missed their intended stops due to the inability to navigate through the packed compartments in time.
Moreover, a distressing incident involved a mother with her child who allegedly became trapped in the boarding crowd, facing verbal confrontations from both passengers attempting to board and those struggling to exit.
According to the journalist, several families and a government school official were among those who failed to deboard at Ambassa station on that day. The government school official expressed his frustration, stating that he had never encountered such incidents before the introduction of LHB coaches.
Meanwhile, the severity of the situation compelled railway authorities to make an unscheduled stop at Jawahar Nagar Railway Station, a dilapidated and abandoned facility situated five kilometers from Ambassa.
According to sources, express trains typically bypass this station, but the emergency measure became necessary after numerous passengers failed to exit at Ambassa.
However, this improvised solution has created additional financial burdens for affected passengers. A college student who had traveled home for Makar Sankranti celebrations reported that despite the station being merely five kilometers from Ambassa, she must now arrange alternative transportation to reach her home at Kamalpur in Dhalai district, incurring unexpected expenses that strain her limited student budget.
The next scheduled stop at Manu Railway Station would have placed her 20 kilometers away from her destination, making the unscheduled halt at Jawahar Nagar a marginally better but still problematic alternative.
