The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today inaugurated the redeveloped Ayodhya Railway Station and flagged off new Amrit Bharat trains and Vande Bharat trains.  He also dedicated several other railway projects to the nation.

Later,  at a public event, the Prime Minister said Ayodhya Dham Railway Station handles 10 thousand people now  this will reach 60 thousand after revamping will be complete. The Prime Minister informed about the new train series ‘Amrit Bharat’ trains after Vande Bharat and Namo Bharat and expressed delight that the first Amrit Bharat train is going through Ayodhya. He congratulated people of UP, Delhi, Bihar, West Bengal and Karnataka for getting these trains today.

The Prime MInister highlighted the sense of service to the poor that underlie modern Amrit Bharat trains. “People who often travel long distances due to their work, and those who do not have that much income, are also entitled to modern facilities and comfortable travel. These trains have been designed keeping in mind the dignity in the life of the poor”, he added. The Prime Minister also highlighted the role that Vande Bharat trains are playing in linking development with heritage. “The country's first Vande Bharat Express train ran from Kashi. Today Vande Bharat Express trains are running on 34 routes in the country. Vande Bharat connects Kashi, Katra, Ujjain, Pushkar, Tirupati, Shirdi, Amritsar, Madurai, every such big center of faith. In this series, today Ayodhya has also got the gift of Vande Bharat train”, said PM Modi.

Phase I of redeveloped Ayodhya Railway Station - known as Ayodhya Dham Junction Railway Station - is developed at a cost of more than Rs 240 crore. The three-storey modern railway station building is equipped with all modern features like lifts, escalators, food plazas, shops for puja needs, cloak rooms, child care rooms, waiting halls. The station building will be 'accessible for all' and 'IGBC certified green station building'.

The programme at Ayodhya Dham Junction Railway Station witnessed the Prime Minister flagging off a new category of superfast passenger trains in the country - the Amrit Bharat Express. The Amrit Bharat train is an LHB push pull train with non air-conditioned coaches. This train has locos at both ends for better acceleration. It provides improved facilities for rail passengers like beautiful and attractive designed seats, better luggage rack, mobile charging point with suitable mobile holder, LED lights, CCTV, public information system, among others. The Prime Minister also flagged off six new Vande Bharat Trains.

The Prime Minister flagged off two new Amrit Bharat trains viz Darbhanga-Ayodhya-Anand Vihar Terminal Amrit Bharat Express and Malda Town-Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminus (Bengaluru) Amrit Bharat Express.

The Prime Minister interacted with school children travelling in the inaugural journey of the Amrit Trains.

The Prime Minister also flagged off six new Vande Bharat Trains. These include Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express; Amritsar-Delhi Vande Bharat Express; Coimbatore-Bangalore Cantt Vande Bharat Express; Mangalore-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express; Jalna-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express and Ayodhya-Anand Vihar Terminal Vande Bharat Express.

The Prime Minister also dedicated to the nation three railway projects worth Rs 2300 crore to strengthen rail infrastructure in the region. The projects include the Rooma Chakeri-Chanderi third line project; Jaunpur-Tulsi Nagar, Akbarpur-Ayodhya, Sohawal-Patranga and Safdarganj-Rasauli sections of the Jaunpur-Ayodhya-Barabanki doubling project; and doubling and electrification project of the Malhaur-Daliganj railway section.

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DS