New Delhi [India], March 15 : Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, while speaking to ANI, lauded the transformative efforts undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revamp the Indian Railways over the past decade.
Vaishnaw emphasized that under PM Modi's leadership, the railways have made significant strides, operating at an impressive pace of development.
Minister Vaishnaw said, "In the last ten years, PM Modi has made a lot of efforts to bring improvement in railways."
Vaishnaw contrasted the progress achieved under the current government with the performance during the Congress era, stating that while only 4 km of railway tracks were laid per day previously, the current rate has surged to an impressive 15 km per day.
He highlighted a remarkable achievement, revealing that 5,100 km of railway track had been laid in the current year alone, a figure equivalent to the entire rail network of Switzerland.
Minister Vaishnaw said, "Hence, railways are working at a good speed. In Congress' times, 4 km of railway tracks were laid per day, now it's 15 km per day. 5,100 km of railway track has been laid in this year only which is equivalent to Switzerland's entire rail network."
Expressing confidence in the future trajectory of the railways, Vaishnaw affirmed that the momentum of development and infrastructure expansion would be sustained over the next five years.
He assured that the railways would continue to introduce new infrastructure and services at a consistent pace, further enhancing connectivity and efficiency across the nation.
"Railways will continue to bring new infrastructure and services at the same pace in the upcoming five years," said Minister.
Earlier on Friday, the Union Minister announced that Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai will now develop standard gauge Vande Bharat trains, only for export purposes.
Standard gauge rakes are used in Railways across the world. Following the inauguration, the Minister said that presently, broad gauge Vande Bharat is being manufactured in ICF for use in the Indian Railway network.
Vaishnaw also announced that wheels using the forging process will be manufactured in Tamil Nadu and the construction work has already started and production will commence in 16-18 months.
The minister said that this manufacturing unit in Gummidipoondi, Tamilnadu will have a huge production capacity of 2.5 lakhs per year.
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