People of Rajasthan were joyous as the first Vande Bharat Express train from the State was flagged-off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. The PM joined the launch event via video conferencing.

Vande Bharat Express, PM said brings to the fore the spirit of “India First, Always First” and that it “has become synonymous with development, modernity, self-reliance and stability.” He added that it will immensely benefit the tourism industry of Rajasthan.

Video

Hitting out at corruption, PM said it had gravely affected the modernisation of Indian Railways in the past. “Unfortunately, selfish and mean politics had always overshadowed the modernisation of the railways. Large-scale corruption neither let development happen in the railways nor did it let the railways’ selection process be transparent,” he remarked.

While today’s inaugural train will run from Jaipur to Delhi Cantonment, the regular service which will start from tomorrow will operate between Ajmer and Delhi Cantt. The train is expected to improve connectivity between the tourist spots in Rajasthan and will stop at Jaipur, Alwar and Gurgaon.

The train according to the official Press release will complete the Ajmer-Delhi Cantt journey in five hours and 15 minutes. This is exactly an hour less than the time taken by the fastest train on the route currently, which is Shatabdi Express.

Among the special passengers in the inaugural run were children. They have been selected from more than 550 school students from Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur and Bikaner who participated in quiz, drawing and essay competition to showcase their perpetual love for Vande Bharat.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Railway Minister, interacted with the children who eagerly shared their joy at being on the inaugural run of this prestigious train.