NEW DELHI: India has around 4,000 cities, including 300 towns, that have a population of over 1 lakh. Also, there are seven cities with more than 3 crore people. Good news is almost all cities of the country will be connected with the high-speed Vande Bharat Express trains in a few years.
“The day is not far when Vande Bharat will connect the country’s cities,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday after flagging off the nine new Vande Bharat trains in one go virtually from the national capital.
The nine new Vande Bharat trains were launched in 11 states — Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Kerala and Gujarat. These trains will substantially link a large number of tourist and pilgrim centres.
The PM said the nine new trains are equipped with world-class facilities. “The speed and scale of infrastructure development in the country is matching the aspirations of 140 crore Indians,” the Prime Minister said, adding that the new train is a symbol of new enthusiasm prevailing in India.
Expressing delight over a growing number of passengers opting for Vande Bharat trains, the PM said that over 1.11 crore passengers have travelled in 25 such trains so far. The additional trains now form a 34 Vande Bharat fleet.
Hitting out at previous governments for not paying enough attention to the Railways, the Prime Minister said the modernisation is taking place in a mission mode. The Prime Minister also highlighted how tourism is getting a boost with Vande Bharat trains. “The swift and safe journey will spur tourism and increase economic activities across areas in and around the tourist places,” he said.
He also said the Railways was also contributing to women empowerment as many railway stations in the country are run by women functionaries. Elaborating on the larger government role in the Railways, he said the present government has increased the railway budget eight times compared to what it was till 2014.
“India is now on the path to being developed. The country will have to modernise its railway stations as well. “Redevelopment of more than 500 major stations across the country has started on a large scale,” he said. The stations being redeveloped would be called Amrit Bharat stations, reflecting the identity of the new Bharat in the coming days, said the Prime Minister.
He appreciated the Railways’ new initiative of celebrating the Sthapana Diwas (foundation day) of more than 150-year-old stations. “This tradition of celebrating the birthday of railway stations will be expanded further and more and more people will be involved in it,” he said.
The Prime Minister also asked the railway employees to ensure the ease of journey improves. “Every railway employee has to remain sensitive to ease of travel and provide a good experience to the passengers,” he emphasized.
The PM said that the number of passengers who travel by trains in one day in India is more than the population of many countries. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also attended the launch and outlined the Railways’ efforts to create world-class infrastructure.
Modernisation
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Railways was also contributing to women empowerment as many railway stations in the country are run by women functionaries. Elaborating on the larger government role in the Railways, he said the present government has increased the railway budget by eight times compared to what it was till 2014. “India is now on the path to being developed. We will have to modernise our railway stations as well. Redevelopment of more than 500 major stations has started on a large scale,” he said.
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