Guwahati (Assam) [India], May 29 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday attended the flagging off of Northeast India's first Vande Bharat Express train by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the video-conferencing mode at a ceremony held at Guwahati Railway Station.
Connecting Guwahati with New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, the Vande Bharat Express, a semi-high-speed train built with indigenously developed technology, would cover a distance of approximately 411 kilometres within a span of 5 hours and 30 minutes.
Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister Sarma said the Vande Bharat Express train would play a major role in shaping the Prime Minister's goal of "transformation through transportation" for the country's Northeastern region.
The Chief Minister added the Prime Minister deserved praise from all quarters for his efforts aimed at overall growth and development in the Northeastern region.
The state-of-the-art Vande Bharat Train is fitted with the modern train collision avoidance system (TCAS), also known as Kavach, and comes with numerous amenities such as bio-vacuum toilets, 360-degree revolving chairs, divyang-friendly washrooms and seat handles, among others, and is designed to provide an experience similar to that of air-travel to the passengers.
Also, the Prime Minister today also dedicated to the nation the newly-electrified 199-kilometre stretch of railway tracks connecting New Bongaigaon - Dudhnoi - Mendipathar and the 238-kilometre stretch between Guwahati and Chaparmukh.
Under the current PM Modi-led government at the Centre, Sarma said the roadways, railways and waterways connectivity in the Northeast had witnessed a never-before-seen modernization push.
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