Jaipur, Feb 26 – Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday addressed the foundation stone laying ceremony of redevelopment works of 553 railway stations across the country, which included redevelopment of 21 railway stations in Rajasthan, and the inauguration and foundation stone laying of 112 Road Over Bridge and Road Under Bridge projects introduced under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.
More than 40 lakh people participated in the programme across the country.
Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment works of 21 railway stations in Rajasthan which includes Ajmer Junction, Pali Marwar, Sanganer, Beawar, Fatehnagar, Jawai Dam, Rani, Somesar, Gogamedi, Raisingh Nagar, Dausa, Fatehpur Shekhawati, Khairthal, Neem Ka Thana, Rajgarh, Deeg, Dholpur, Govindgarh, Kherli, Bundi and Jhalawar. These railway stations will become centres of socio-economic activities.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma participated in the programme organised at Sanganer railway station in Jaipur and expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Modi for these developments.
Addressing the programme, the Prime Minister Modi said: “Today’s India is going through a phase of change, the prime example of which is the Indian Railways. A decade ago, the average annual budget of Railways was Rs 45,000 crore, which has now increased to more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore.”
He added that 10 years ago it was difficult to imagine semi-high speed trains like Vande Bharat and modern trains like Amrit Bharat, but today poor and middle class people are getting world-class facilities available at the airports and the railway stations.
Prime Minister Modi said that Amrit Bharat Station is a symbol of the country’s heritage and development.
“Each station reflects a specialty of the local city. For example, the Rangpur station in Sikkim has the influence of local architecture, while the Sanganer station in Jaipur bears the imprint of 16th century hand block printing.”
The Rajasthan Chief Minister said that Railways is playing an important role in realising the vision of a developed India under the leadership of PM Modi.
“Along with modernisation, world-class facilities are being developed in the Railways which is providing relief to the common people.”
He added that the Vande Bharat Express and Amrit Bharat Station are being discussed all over the world.
“Indian Railways has achieved new heights through innovations in construction of new railway lines, high-speed trains, cleanliness and digitalisation.”
He said that to make Sanganer a world-class railway station, redevelopment has been planned at a cost of Rs 192 crore.
“Under this initiative, the number of railway lines at Sanganer station will be increased from 3 to 5. Besides, development works of ticket, parcel office, retiring room, etc. are also proposed at the station. All these facilities will increase the arrival of passengers at Sanganer station and will promote employment at the local level in the surrounding areas.”
The Chief Minister added that the connectivity of long route trains will also increase at the station and passengers will be able to travel long distances with ease.
The Union Railways Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said that more than 30,000 km of railway lines have been constructed and doubled in the last decade.
He added that in 2014, about 4 km of railway line was being constructed every day, whereas now 15 km of railway line is being laid every day.
The Minister said that in the last 10 years, 40,000 km of railway lines have been electrified.
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