Staff Reporter
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched four railway projects in West Bengal through video conferencing from Ahmedabad.
The projects include Boinchi – Shaktigarh 3rd Line, Dankuni – Chandanpur 4th Line Project, Nimtita – New Farakka Double Line and Ambari Falakata – New Maynaguri – Gumanihat Doubling Project. The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for the re-development of the New Jalpaiguri Railway Station.
He flagged off the Vande Bharat Express, connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri and also inaugurated the Joka-Taratala Stretch of the Joka-Esplanade Metro Project (Purple Line).
Addressing the gathering after inauguration of projects, the Prime Minister said the land from where the call of Vande Matram originated, today saw the flagging off of Vande Bharat. He further added that India had taken a resolve to start 475 Vande Bharat trains during the celebrations of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and the train being flagged off today from Howrah to New Jalpaiguri is one of them. Mentioning the multiple projects whose foundation stones were laid and inaugurated, the Prime Minister said that the government is spending approximately 5000 crores for the completion of these projects.
Linking reforms and development of Railways with the development of the country, Mr. Modi said that nationwide campaign is going on to transform the Indian Railway. He listed modern trains like Vande Bharat, Tejas Hum Safar and VistaDome coaches and the modernisation of Railway Stations, doubling and electrification of Railway lines as examples of this modernization. He also mentioned eastern and Western dedicated freight corridors as projects that will bring revolutionary changes in the logistics sector.
The Prime Minister said that the Metro Rail system is an example of India’s speed and scale today. He said, Metro network which was less than 250 kilometer before 2014 and had the highest share in Delhi-NCR has expanded to more than 2 dozen cities in the last 7-8 years. Now Metro is running on an approximately 800 kilometer long track in different cities of the country and work is going on Metro routes of more than 1000 kilometers.