I started my life on railway tracks, so I know how bad our railways were earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at an event in Ahmedabad where he inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of a slew of railway projects on Tuesday.
The prime minister hit out at the previous governments for “prioritising political selfishness”, of which, he said, the railways became a victim.
PM Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of ₹85,000 crore railway projects, including the launch of 10 new Vande Bharat trains. He launched the projects from the Sabarmati area after visiting the Dedicated Freight Corridor’s (DFC) Operation Control Centre in Ahmedabad.
The prime minister laid the foundation stone of railway workshops, loco sheds, pit lines/ coaching depots, Phaltan-Baramati new line; electric traction system upgradation work and dedicated to the nation two new sections of the Dedicated Freight Corridor between New Khurja to Sahnewal (401 Rkm) section of the eastern DFC and New Makarpura to New Gholvad section (244 Rkm) of the western DFC; western DFC’s Operation Control Centre (OCC), Ahmedabad.
“I would like to tell the youth that the inaugurations that happened today are for your present. The foundation stone layings that happened today have come with the guarantee of your bright future,” Modi said.
“After Independence, the governments used to prioritise their political selfishness, and the railways became a victim of it,” he added.
“The first that I did was to include Railway into the Budget of the Government, due to that funds of the Government are now used for the development of Railway.”
Modi stressed the pivotal role railways play in national development, drawing parallels with global economic powerhouses.
“We can take a look at anywhere in the world and we will find that the railways had played a key part in countries that became developed and economic powerhouse. Therefore, the development of the railways is a guarantee of ‘Viksit Bharat’,” he asserted.
The prime minister credited recent reforms for driving the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’, illustrating the scale of progress achieved in a short span. The PM said that in the last 10 years, his government spent around six times more amount for the development of railways than was done earlier.
“In just over two months of 2024, we have inaugurated and laid the foundation of ₹11 lakh crore projects,” he said.
“I started my life on railway tracks, so I know how bad our railways were earlier,” he said.
