Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics & IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, flagged off three key train services from Bhavnagar in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region on Sunday.
He was joined by Union Ministers Mansukh Mandaviya and Nimuben Bambhaniya at the ceremony.
According to a media report, the newly launched services include the Bhavnagar–Ayodhya Express, Rewa–Pune Express, and Jabalpur–Raipur Express. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai also participated virtually via video conferencing.
Vaishnaw said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has an “emotional bonding” with the Railways and that he focuses on how to develop it. He added that the Railways has seen “radical changes” in the last 11 years and railway tracks covering 34,000 km have been built. He also said that everyday, 12-km tracks are being built in the country and renovation work is underway at 1,300 railway stations.
He also informed people about some new projects are coming up in Gujarat that include a new train between Porbandar and Rajkot, coach maintenance facility at Ranavav, new line between Saradiya and Vasjaliya, flyover in Porbandar, two new Gatishakti cargo terminals and a new port in Bhavnagar.
Talking about the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, the Union minister said that the service will start “shortly”. The Railways minister said that after the completion of the project, the journey between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will be reduced to two hours and seven minutes.