Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday flagged off the Vande Bharat Express between Puri in Odisha and Howrah in West Bengal during the launch of various railway projects in Odisha.
Praising the Vande Bharat Express as a symbol of India's modern day aspirations, Modi said: “India's speed and progress can be seen whenever a Vande Bharat train runs from one place to another. This pace can now be witnessed in the states of Odisha and West Bengal.”
He asserted that this will entirely change the meaning of development along with the experience of travelling for passengers.
“Be it travelling from Kolkata to Puri for darshan or the other way round, the travel time will now be reduced to only six and half hours, thereby saving time, giving rise to business opportunities and providing new opportunities for the youth,” the Prime Minister stated.
Along with flagging off the Vande Bharat train, Modi also laid the foundation stone and dedicated several railway projects worth more than INR 80 billion ($968 million) in Odisha.
PM Narendra Modi flags off Odisha’s first Vande Bharat Express
© Photo : Twitter/ @sambitswaraj
The other projects include:
laying the foundation stone for the redevelopment of the Puri and Cuttack railway stations;
dedicating 100% electrification of the rail network in Odisha,
doubling the Sambalpur-Titlagarh rail line, and a new broad gauge rail line between Angul and Sukinda;
a third line connecting Manoharpur - Rourkela - Jharsuguda - Jamga
and a new broad-gauge line between Bichhupali and Jhartarbha.
Highlighting the need to strengthen the country's unity and integrity, Modi said that the nation's collective capabilities can reach a pinnacle, only if the country remains totally united.
Referring to the Vande Bharat Express as the engine of development for the country which is forwarding the spirit of 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' (One India Excellent India). He said that the Indian Railway connects and weaves everyone together in a thread, and the Vande Bharat Express will also move forward with the same idea.
He further added that the train would strengthen the spiritual and cultural connection between Puri and Howrah.
So far, 15 Vande Bharat trains have been running across various states and the addition today will take the number to 16.
After the success of the New Delhi-Varanasi and New Delhi-Katra route, the Railway Board on December 13, 2019, approved the production of 45 new Vande Bharat trains by 2022. However, the production slowed down due to COVID-19, but the Railway Minister decided to move ahead with the schedule and asked the officials to build 10 trains by August 2022.
In the budget set out by the federal authorities for 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government would manufacture 400 more Vande Bharat trains over the next three years.