NE BUSINESS BUREAU
NEW DELHI, MAY 29
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday flagged off Assam’s first Vande Bharat Express which will connect Guwahati in Assam and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal.
The Prime Minister also dedicated New Bongaigaon–Dudhnoi–Mendipathar and Guwahati–Chaparmukh newly electrified sections to the nation. He further inaugurated the new DEMU/MEMU (workshop for trains) shed at Lumding here.
- Dedicates newly electrified sections and newly constructed DEMU/MEMU shed
- First Vande Bharat Express of Northeast will boost tourism and enhance connectivity
- The last 9 years have been of unprecedented achievements for building a New India
- The biggest beneficiaries of the infrastructure push have been the states of Eastern and Northeastern India
It is the first of its kind premium semi-high speed aesthetically designed, well-equipped fully Air Conditioner service between Guwahati in Assam and New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal.
This new service will cover the distance of 411 km between Guwahati and New Jalpaiguri in 5 hours 30 minutes reducing the present shortest journey time by the speediest train significantly.
The Vande Bharat Express train service will operate six days a week discovering the new age rail travel with airlines like travel feelings for people of the northeast who will able to feel the comfort and speed during the journey.
This will be the fastest train in this sector and will benefit IT professionals, businessmen, students and tourists.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said, “Today is a huge day for the connectivity of the Northeast as three development works are being accomplished together.”
Firstly, the Prime Minister elaborated, Northeast is getting its first Vande Bharat Express today where this is the third Vande Bharat Express which connects West Bengal. Secondly, approximately 425 kilometers of railway tracks in Assam and Meghalaya have been electrified. And, thirdly, a new DEMU/MEMU shed has been inaugurated in Lumding in Assam. The Prime Minister congratulated the citizens of the entire Northeast along with Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal on this momentous occasion.
The Prime Minister said that the Guwahati -New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat train will strengthen the centuries-old ties between Assam and West Bengal. This will increase ease of travel and provide huge benefits to students and will increase job opportunities arising out of tourism and business. He said that this Vande Bharat will provide connectivity to Maa Kamakhya Temple, Kaziranga, Manas National Park, and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary. Furthermore, the Prime Minister pointed out that it will enhance travel and tourism in Shillong, Cherrapunji in Meghalaya and Tawang and Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh.
Throwing light on the 9 years of the NDA government in power, the Prime Minister remarked that the nation has witnessed numerous accomplishments and unprecedented development towards a new India in these years. He highlighted the newly inaugurated magnificent Parliament House of independent India and said that it will connect the thousand-year-old democratic history of India with its prosperous democracy of the future. Referring to past governments, the Prime Minister pointed out that the scams of before 2014 had broken all records where the maximum impact was felt by the poor and the states which lagged behind in development.
“Our government has prioritized the welfare of the poor”, the Prime Minister remarked as he gave examples of houses, toilets, tapped water connections, electricity, gas pipelines, the development of AIIMS, infrastructure boost to roads, railways, airways, airways, waterways, ports and mobile connectivity.
He underlined that the government has worked at full strength to achieve these goals. Noting that infrastructure makes people’s lives easier, creates employment opportunities and becomes a basis for development, the Prime Minister mentioned that the infrastructure development pace in India is being discussed all over the globe. This infrastructure, the Prime Minister said, strengthens and empowers the poor, backward, Dalits, adivasis and other deprived sections of the society.
“Infrastructure is for everyone and it does not discriminate”, the Prime Minister said as he underlined that this form of development is the pure form of social justice and secularism.
