New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday virtually flagged off first semi-high speed Vande Bharat between Dehradun and Delhi and said the train will connect the National capital with Devbhoomi at a faster speed.
The Prime Minister also dedicated the nation, newly electrified rail sections in the state. With this, the state will have its entire rail route 100 per cent electrified.
This is the first Vande Bharat that has been introduced in Uttarakhand with world-class amenities.
The train has been indigenously and is equipped with advanced safety features including the Kavach technology.
The new Vande Bharat Express will cover the distance between Dehradun to Delhi in 4.5 hours.
Inaugurating the Vande Bharat Express train, he congratulated the people of Uttarakhand and said it will contribute well to the tourism sector of the State and the travel time between the two cities will be further reduced.
Speaking about his recent international travels, the Prime Minister said the world is looking at India with high hopes.
“India has become a ray of hope for the world when it comes to strengthening the economy and fighting poverty”, the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister emphasized that beautiful states like Uttarakhand should make the most of today’s situation when people from around the world want to come to India.
Modi also underlined that the Vande Bharat train is also going to help Uttarakhand in taking full advantage of this opportunity.
The Prime Minister also recalled his visit to Kedarnath and said ‘This decade is going to be the decade of Uttarakhand’. “This train will be extremely helpful for crores of devotees who travel to Kedarnath every year,” he said.
He said the tourist spots of the state are attracting visitors from all across the globe and the Vande Bharat Express will be greatly beneficial to them.
The Prime Minister informed that only one-third of the country’s rail network had been electrified by 2014 making it impossible to think of a fast-running train.
“The all-around work to transform the railways began after 2014,” the Prime Minister added.
The Prime Minister informed that 600 km of rail lines were electrified every year on an average before 2014 whereas 6 thousand kilometers of railway lines are being electrified every year today.
“Today, more than 90 percent of the country’s railway network has been electrified. In Uttarakhand, 100 percent electrification of the entire rail network has been achieved”, the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister informed that 5 years before 2014, the average budget for the state was less than Rs 200 crore whereas today the rail budget is 5 thousand crore rupees, a 25 fold increase.
