Monitoring Desk,25-Apr; Prime Minister Narendra Modi today flagged off Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod at Thiruvananthapuram Central Station. The train will cover 11 Districts of Kerala. The Vande Bharat train between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod will cover a distance of around 588 kilometres in around eight hours. It will have stoppages at Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam Town, Thrissur, Shoranur, Kozhikode and Kannur. The Vande Bharat Express will be faster by around one hour as compared to Rajdhani running on the same route.
Prime Minister Modi also laid the foundation stone and dedicated various projects to the nation worth more than three thousand two hundred crore rupees. Mr Modi also dedicated the Kochi water metro to the nation. This project connects ten islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with Kochi city. The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of Digital Science Park in Thiruvananthapuram. Digital Science Park is envisaged as a key research facility to develop digital products and services by industry and business units in collaboration with the academia.
Addressing the gathering at Thiruvananthapuram, PM Modi said, the government is encouraging cooperative federalism for India’s progress and prosperity. He said, the government looks at states’ development as a step towards India’s growth. He said, when Kerala will develop then India will also grow at a faster rate. Mr Modi said, in the last nine years, the government has been working at a phenomenal speed for the connectivity infrastructure. He said, the Central government has allocated a budget of more than 10 lakh crore rupees to the development of infrastructure. The Prime Minister said, the country is progressing at a speed and scale that is unprecedented. He said, during the global crisis, the world looks at India as a vibrant spot of growth. The Prime Minister said, equipped with modern facilities, the Vande Bharat train will give a great experience of travelling at high speed without harming the environment.
