Committed to make rail travel comfortable for all: PM Modi
New Delhi(PTI): The railways has made big strides in addressing long-standing issues and will not stop till it becomes a guarantee of comfortable travel for all sections of society, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.
Flagging off three new Vande Bharat Express trains via videoconferencing, Modi said the nation was inching towards the goal of Viksit Bharat with modernisation and expansion of Vande Bharat trains.
The three trains flagged off by the prime minister connect Meerut with Lucknow, Madurai with Bengaluru, and Chennai with Nagercoil.
"Through its hard work over the years, the railways has made big strides in addressing long-standing issues and offered new hopes and solutions. We will not stop until the Indian Railways becomes a guarantee of comfortable travel for everyone," Modi said.
The prime minister's remarks came against the backdrop of railway accidents that prompted the opposition to question the government's track record on rail safety.
Modi said modern rail infrastructure was a strong pillar of the vision of Viksit Bharat. He said more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore was allocated to the railways in this year's budget and the government was connecting Indian Railways with high-tech services to transform its old image.
The prime minister underlined that the rapid development of southern states was imperative to accomplish the goal of Viksit Bharat.
"Southern India is the land of immense talent, resources and opportunities," he said, adding that the development of Tamil Nadu, along with the entire southern India, was the government's priority.
He said the development journey of the railways was an example of the government's commitment. Modi said more than Rs 6,000 crore was allocated for Tamil Nadu's rail budget this year, seven times more than in 2014.
Similarly, a budget of more than Rs 7,000 crore was allocated for Karnataka in this year's budget, which was nine times higher than in 2014.
Eight Vande Bharat trains are connecting different parts of Karnataka, he added.
The prime minister drew parallels from budgets of the past and said the multiple-fold increase in allocations further strengthened rail traffic in southern states, including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
He said railway tracks were being improved, electrification of tracks taking place, and stations modernised. The Meerut City-Lucknow Vande Bharat Express will help passengers save around an hour compared to the current fastest train between the two cities.
The Chennai Egmore-Nagercoil Vande Bharat Express and the Madurai-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express will cut down travel time by more than two hours and around one-and-a-half hours, respectively.
The prime minister said while the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) has helped connect Meerut with New Delhi, the distance to Lucknow has also been reduced with the introduction of the Vande Bharat Express.
"The National Capital Region (NCR) is becoming an example of how PM Gatishakti's vision will change the country's infrastructure with modern trains, network of expressways, and expansion of air services," Modi said.
Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, her Tamil Nadu counterpart RN Ravi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, among others, were virtually present on the occasion.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
