NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said it was unfortunate that earlier not much attention was given to modernising Indian railways and asserted that his government was working for its transformation.
Modi made the remarks in his address before flagging off nine Vande Bharat trains connecting religious and tourist destinations across 11 states.
The nine trains will provide faster connectivity across 11 states -- Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat.
In his address via video conferencing ahead of the flag-off, Modi said the speed and scale of infrastructure development is matching the aspirations of 140 crore Indians.
He said the popularity of Vande Bharat trains is constantly rising and over 1,11,00,000 passengers have already travelled in them.
The prime minister noted that 25 Vande Bharat trains are running and now nine more have been added. That day is not far when these trains will connect all parts of the country, he said.
"Indian railways is the most trusted co-passenger of India's poor and middle-class people. The number of people who travel in the railways in one day is more than the population of many countries," he said.
"It is unfortunate that not much attention was given to modernise Indian railways. But now our government is working for the transformation of Indian railways," Modi said.
In his remarks, Modi also said that all Indians are proud of new India's accomplishments and the common person's expectations have reached sky-high due to the success of Chandrayaan-3. The success of the G20 Summit has given confidence that India has the power of democracy, demography, and diversity, he said.
"The world has hailed our women-led development and to advance this vision the government brought Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam," he said.
The new Vande Bharat trains flagged off by the PM will run between Udaipur-Jaipur; Tirunelveli-Madurai-Chennai; Hyderabad-Bengaluru; Vijayawada-Chennai (via Renigunta); Patna-Howrah; Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram; Rourkela-Bhubaneswar -Puri; Ranchi-Howrah; and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad.
These trains are a step towards realising the prime minister's vision of improving connectivity across the country and providing world-class facilities to rail passengers, according to an official statement.
"The Vande Bharat trains will be the fastest train along the routes of their operation and will help save considerable time for the passengers," it said.
The introduction of these Vande Bharat trains will herald a new standard of rail service in the country, the statement said.
9 Vande Bharat trains roll out with new feature after passenger feedback
Among the new features introduced on the trains based on passenger feedback are: the seat reclination angle raised from 17.31 degrees to 19.37 degrees, the hardness of cushion optimised and the colour of seats in executive class coach changed from red to pleasant blue.
The changes also include improved accessibility of mobile charging points under the seats, extended footrests for seats and magazine bags for executive class coach-end seats as well.
The improved features also include an increase in the wash basin depth to avoid splashing of water in lavatories, lighting in toilets improved from 1.5 watts to 2.5 watts, a toilet handle given additional bend for improved grip and a water tap aerator to better water flow control.
The new features include provision for securing points for wheelchairs of Divyangjan passengers in driving trailer coaches.
The new trainsets also have improved air tightness for better airconditioning with insulation over panels, better roller blind fabric with more tear strength with less transparency and smooth touch controls for luggage rack lights by changing from resistive touch to capacitive touch.
The trains also have improved aerosol-based fire detection and suppression systems inside the coaches.
These trains, equipped with world-class amenities and advanced safety features, including Kavach technology, will be a key step towards providing modern, speedy and comfortable means of travel to common people, professionals, businessmen, student community and tourists.