Bhopal
Union Railway Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnav today said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Indian Railways has seen an unprecedented change in the last 11 years. He said that before 2014, the railway had been a victim of neglect for decades, where there was an annual investment of only ₹ 25-30 thousand crores. But now this investment has increased to ₹ 2.5 lakh crore, which is speeding up the development of the infrastructure and facilities of the railway.
Shri Vaishnav said, “Legacy problems accumulated in the railway for years are now ending one by one. Station, train, toilets, tracks, cleanliness, technology-have been widely improved in every field. Passengers are being given new facilities and integrated development is being given priority in association with the industry.”
Shri Vaishnav, speaking at the inauguration of railway siding facility at Maruti plant in Manesar, Haryana, counted the major announcements and achievements
100 new main line EMUs
To upgrade passenger trains, now 16 and 20 coaches will be made Main Line EMU vehicles. Till now 8 or 12 coaches MEMU were made. The project will be implemented in a new factory starting in Qazipet, Telangana. This will provide great relief to short distance travel.
50 new ‘Namo Bharat’ AC Passenger vehicles
‘Namo Bharat’ trains received a great response from passengers. Now 50 new AC passenger trains will be added. Earlier, two vehicles were started between Ahmedabad-Bhuj and Patna-Jayanagar. Overall, 150 new passenger vehicles will enter the service.
More than 1200 new general coaches
In the last year, the Railways have added more than 1200 general coaches keeping in mind the demand of passengers. This campaign has been running continuously for the last 2.5 years.
Amrit Bharat Station Scheme
So far, the work of 1300 Amrit Bharat Station has been approved. Of these, 103 stations have been completed recently and the Prime Minister inaugurated it from Bikaner. 100 more stations will be completed by December 2025 and 500 more stations by 2026.
Improvement in ticketing system
To prevent misuse of bots in Tatkal ticket booking, only KYC verified passengers will get the facility of online booking from July 1. ID will also be compulsory on window booking.
Innovation in chart publishing
Bikaner Division has started publishing the chart 24 hours earlier under an innovative initiative (first 4 hours ago). This has reduced uncertainty among passengers and is facing facility to make better plans.
Vande India and Amrit Bharat Trains Extension
The number of Amrit Bharat Express trains will soon increase by 6 more. Construction of 50 more trains continues. Vande Bharat trains are also being constantly being extended on new routes.
Freight Corridor and Corporation Services
India now ranks second among the freight and passenger transport in the world. Last year 720 crore passengers traveled from the railway and 1617 million tonnes of goods were carried. The Freight Corridor is now fully active and about 400 goods trains are running on it every day.
Railway basic rejuvenation in Haryana
Shri Vaishnav said that before the year 2014, Haryana used to get an allocation of only ₹ 315 crore, which has now increased to ₹ 3416 crore. In Haryana:
• 823 km of new tracks were laid – it is more than the total rail network of UAE.
• Electrification of 100% railway network*
• 34 stations: Amrit is being re -developed under the Bharat Scheme.
• 540 flyovers and underpasses have been built.
• The railway factory of Sonepat is being “modernized”.
• Rs 11,800 crore is being invested by the Railways in Haryana.
Motion strength multi-model terminals
In order to empower multi-model logistics according to the vision of the Prime Minister, the Railways made large reforms in 2021, resulting in 108 multi-model cargo terminals ready in a short time. The terminal located in Haryana, where the announcement was spread, is spread over 45 acres and has a cargo carrying capacity of 4.5 lakh cars.
Shri Vaishnav finally said, “Indian Railways’ Parivartan Yatra, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, is creating a new era railway-Tej, clean, modern and public-interest. In the coming years we are committed to take it to more heights.”
