The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi flagged off nine Vande Bharat trains today via video conferencing. These new Vande Bharat trains are a step towards realising Prime Minister’s vision of improving connectivity across the country and providing world class facilities to rail passengers. The new trains that were flagged off are:

1. Udaipur – Jaipur Vande Bharat Express
2. Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express
3. Hyderabad –Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express
4. Vijayawada – Chennai (via Renigunta) Vande Bharat Express
5. Patna – Howrah Vande Bharat Express
6. Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express
7. Rourkela - Bhubaneswar – Puri  Vande Bharat Express
8. Ranchi – Howrah  Vande Bharat Express
9. Jamnagar-Ahmedabad  Vande Bharat Express

Speaking on the occasion the Prime Minister called the flag off of nine Vande Bharat Trains an unprecedented occasion of modern connectivity in the country. “This speed and scale of infrastructure development in the country is exactly matching the aspirations of 140 crore Indians”, he said. The Prime Minister said that the trains started today are more modern and comfortable. He said these Vande Bharat Trains are symbols of a new enthusiasm of new India. He expressed delight about the growing craze of Vande Bharat as he informed that more than one crore eleven lakh passengers have travelled in Vande Bharat trains.

The Prime Minister informed that 25 Vande Bharat trains are serving people in different states and union territories. 9 more Vande Bharat are being added to that today and, he said “day is not far when Vande Bharat will connect every part of the country”. He also noted Vande Bharat’s utility for the people who wish to save time and perform same day travel. He also highlighted increased tourism in the places connected by Vande Bharat leading to increased economic activities.

Prime Minister Modi underlined the atmosphere of hope and confidence in the county as every citizen is feeling proud of the achievements of the country. He mentioned historic successes of Chandrayaan 3 and Aditya L1. Similarly,  G20 success has showcased India's strength of Democracy, Demography and Diversity, he said.

He also mentioned Narishakti Vandan Act as a decisive moment for pushing women led development.   In this regard he mentioned that many railway stations are being run by women functionaries.

The Prime Minister said that a confident India is working on the needs of its present and future simultaneously. He listed PM Gatishakti Masterplan for seamless coordination in infrastructure development and New Logistics policy for reduction in transportation and exports related charges. He also talked about multimodal connectivity as one mode of transport should support other modes.  All this is to improve ease of travel for the common citizens, he said.

Stressing the importance of railways in the lives of common citizens, the Prime Minister lamented the neglect of this important sector in the earlier times. Elaborating on the efforts of the current government for the transformation of Indian Railways the Prime Minister informed about increased budget as this year's budget for railway is 8 times the rail budget of 2014. Similarly, work is going on for doubling, electrification and new routes, he added.

The Prime Minister emphasized that “an India on the path of being developed will now have to modernize its railway stations as well”.  With this thinking in mind, for the first time a campaign for development and modernization of railway stations has been started in India. Today, a record number of foot over bridges, lifts and escalators are being constructed in the country for the convenience of railway passengers. Just a few days ago, the work of redevelopment of more than 500 major stations of the country was started. These new stations built during the Amrit Kaal will be called Amrit Bharat Stations, the Prime Minister said. “These stations will become the identity of the new Bharat  in the coming days”, he added.

The Prime Minister expressed happiness that the Railways has started celebrating the ‘Sthapna Diwas’ day of establishment of railway station and mentioned the celebrations at Coimbatore, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Mumbai. Coimbatore Railway station has completed 150 years. “Now 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 said that the country has made the vision of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat a medium of Sankal se Siddhi. “To achieve the goal of a developed India by 2047, development of every state and the people of every state is necessary”, PM Modi emphasized. He said that selfish thinking of concentrating railway development in the state of the railway minister has damaged the country a lot and now we simply can not afford to keep any state backwards. “We have to move ahead with a vision of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas”, he said.

Addressing the hard working Railways employees, the Prime Minister asked them to make every journey memorable for the passengers. “Every employee of the Railways has to remain constantly sensitive towards Ease of Travel and to provide a good experience to the passengers”, the Prime Minister requested.

The Prime Minister said that every citizen has noticed the new standards of cleanliness of railways. He asked everyone to get involved in the proposed swachhta abhiyan at 10 am on 1st October to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. He also asked everyone to rededicate themselves to the purchase of khadi and swadeshi products and be more vocal for local during the time from 2nd October to 31st October, Jayanti of Sardar Patel

“I am confident that the changes taking place at every level in Indian Railways and society will prove to be an important step towards a developed India”, the Prime Minister said concluding his remarks. .

Governors, Chief Ministers, Ministers, Members of Parliament and Union Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw were among those present on the occasion.

Background

These nine trains will boost connectivity across eleven states namely Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat.

These Vande Bharat trains will be the fastest train along the routes of their operation and will help save considerable time of the passengers. As compared to the current fastest train along the route, Rourkela- Bhubaneswar – Puri  Vande Bharat Express and Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express will be faster by about 3 hours; Hyderabad – Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express by more than 2.5 hours; Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express by more than 2 hours; Ranchi – Howrah  Vande Bharat Express,  Patna – Howrah Vande Bharat Express and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express by about 1 hour; and Udaipur - Jaipur Vande Bharat Express by about half an hour.

In line with the Prime Minister’s vision to improve connectivity of important religious places across the country, Rourkela- Bhubaneswar – Puri  Vande Bharat Express and Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express will connect important religious towns of Puri and Madurai. Also, the Vijayawada – Chennai Vande Bharat Express will operate via the Renigunta route and will provide connectivity to Tirupati Pilgrimage centre.

The introduction of these Vande Bharat trains will herald a new standard of rail service in the country. 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.

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DS/SKS