From correspondents in Punjab, India, 12:01 AM IST

In a bid to meet the increasing passenger rush to Assam, the union territory has got a weekly train to Dibrugarh.

The first train was flagged off Thursday by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who is also the MP from Chandigarh.

'This new train will cover a distance of around 2,500 km in 35 hours. Earlier, only a summer special train was being run on this route, as an experiment. There is a huge rush, especially of defence personnel, who travel on this route,' a railway official said.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)