High speed train runs from poll-bound Gujarat
PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi on Friday (30) flagged off the Gandhinagar-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express train, opened the first phase of the Ahmedabad Metro rail and addressed a rally in Banaskantha district, where he also laid the foundation stone for a rail project planned in 1930 as he wrapped his two-day visit to pollbound Gujarat.
On the last day of his latest trip to his home state, where Assembly polls are due by the year-end, the prime minister attended a host of events in Ahmedabad and then travelled to Ambaji in Banaskantha where he either inaugurated or laid foundation stones for projects worth nearly Rs 70 billion ($860m) before addressing the rally in the famous pilgrimage town.
On Thursday, Modi had attended multiple events in Ahmedabad, Surat and Bhavnagar and launched projects worth $1.15bn.
Earlier in the day, Modi travelled in the Vande Bharat Express, a semihigh speed train, and also the metro train before addressing a public gathering in Ahmedabad, where he said cities will shape the destiny of India and ensure it becomes a developed nation in the next 25 years.
‘India of the 21st century is going to get new momentum from the cities of the country. With the changing times, it is necessary to continuously modernise our cities with the changing needs,’ he said.
The train, which connects the capital cities of Maharashtra and Gujarat, is the third Indian-made Vande Bharat Express in the country. The first such train was started on New Delhi-Varanasi route, while the second one on New Delhi-Shri Mata
Vaishno Devi Katra route.
New Delhi plans to launch 75 of the Vande Bharat Express trains by August 2023 to connect all major industrial and business cities. The trains have a top speed of 160 kilometres per hour (99 miles per hour).
The average speed of Indian trains has remained around 50 kmh, and of freight trains around 25 kmh, hitting the state-owned railways’ earnings, according to a national auditor’s report in April.
The 16-coach Vande Express, with a capacity of 1,128 passengers, will provide a better experience for travellers even compared to flying, Modi said after the launch. The train boasts advanced safety features, including Kavach technology, an indigenously developed Train Collision Avoidance System.