Guwahati, May 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday virtually flagged off the first Vande Bharat Express from Assam’s Guwahati to New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal.
The Prime Minister also dedicated 182 Kms of newly electrified sections to the nation apart from inaugurating a newly constructed DEMU/MEMU shed at Lumding in Assam.
“Today entire world is discussing the infrastructure development in India. This Vande Bharat will not only help in faster connectivity but tourism in northeast. Infrastructure development is the real social justice, real secularism, it is for all. The biggest Infra push has been in east and northeast. There are people who say in past work was done but in reality, for years northeast was deprived of basic facilities,” PM Modi asserted.
He said, “You can imagine the first rail moved in India 150 years back. After independence northeast should have seen better rail connectivity but was not done until we came to power in 2014. The country has seen a massive change in last nine years and the best example of development is what has happened in the Northeast.”
“This year northeast alone has over Rs. 10,000 crore railway budget, four times of previous years. Soon, all the northeast capitals would get connected by broad gauge network. This shows our commitment towards and our scale and speed of work is unparalleled. Rail lines have been doubled at nine times faster speed. Many places of northeast are linked for the first time,” he said.
With the arriving of the State of the art Vande Bharat Express in Assam, people of Northeast, and Assam in particular, will be able to experience travelling by rail with speed and comfort. As the Semi high Speed train comprises of all latest amenities, the difference can be well experienced by the people of Northeast during travel.
