Modi govt raised Railway budget for NE, helped expedite projects: Vaishnaw

Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said before 2014, the allocation for the railways for the northeast was Rs 2,000 crore but, under the Modi government, it has increased to Rs 10,200 crore, helping expedite projects in the region.

Talking to reporters at the Guwahati railway station ahead of the launch of the semi-high speed Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express, he also said by June, all states where electrification of routes has been done, will have Vande Bharat trains.

Connecting Guwahati in Assam with New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, the train will help save about an hour of journey time, compared to the current fastest train connecting the two places. It will cover the journey in five-and-a-half hours while the current fastest train takes about six-and-a-half hours to cover the distance, the PMO said in a statement on Sunday.

"Fifteen to 20 years ago, whatever good thing used to happen used to go to big cities, these took time to reach the northeast," the minister said.

However, after the Modi government came, it "changed the mindset towards the region", and for the northeast, "Look East" was transformed into "Act East", Vaishnaw said ahead of the train's flag-off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The minister also highlighted that before 2014, the allocation for railways for the northeast was Rs 2,000 crore.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi doubled it, tripled it and making it five times has made it Rs 10,200 crore," he said and added that this has expedited works and projects in the region.

The indigenous Vande Bharat trains, which are being prepped to replace Shatabdis, Rajdhanis and local trains, are being manufactured at the ICF in Chennai.

Vaishnaw had, during the launch of the Dehradun-Delhi Vande Bharat Express on May 25, said there would be three versions of Vande Bharat trains -- Vande Chair Car, Vande Metro and Vande Sleepers -- by February-March next year.