New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on his first visit to Gujarat, his home state, after being sworn in as PM for a third consecutive term in June this year. He is set to roll out development projects worth more than Rs 8,000 crore in Ahmedabad.
Foundation stone of several key projects will be laid by the PM. These include the quadrupling of the Samakhiali–Gandhidham and Gandhidham–Adipur railway lines, the construction of flyover bridges over Bakrol, Hathijan, Ramol, and Panjarpol Junction, and the development of roads in Ahmedabad.
Apart from these, he will also inaugurate a 30-MW solar system, a 35 Megawatt BESS Solar PV Project at Kutch Lignite Thermal Power Station, and 220 Kilovolt substations at Morbi and Rajkot. The PM will also approve over 30,000 houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Gramin and release the first instalment for these homes, while launching construction of houses under the PMAY Scheme. The Single Window IT System (SWITS) of International Financial Services Centres Authority, designed to streamline financial services, will be launched by him.
However, the most awaited event will be the flagging off of India’s first Vande Metro from Bhuj to Ahmedabad. This Metro service is poised to transform inter-city commute with its advanced medium-distance capabilities.
Key features of Ahmedabad-Bhuj Vande Metro
This Metro train is a fully unreserved AC train. Passengers can buy tickets from the counter shortly before departure of the train. It will stop at nine stations, while covering a distance of 359 kilometres in 5 hours and 45 minutes at a top speed of 110 kilometres per hour.
The train is indigenously developed and has 12 AC coaches, with seating capacity for 1,150 passengers. The coaches are centrally controlled having automatic sliding doors. They are equipped with continuous LED lighting, modular interiors, toilets with vacuum evacuation, and panoramic windows. There are also route map indicators, CCTVs, automatic smoke/fire detection with alarm system and aerosol based fire extinguishing system. Vande Metro is also equipped with advanced safety systems like KAVACH for avoidance of collision.
Initially, there will be 12 coaches, but it could be extended to 16 coaches depending on the demand and need of the city. The regular service for passengers will start from September 17 from Ahmedabad and the total journey will cost Rs 455. The other metros cover only short distances, but Vande Metro train will connect cities from the heart of the city to the peripheral cities.
Second phase of Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar metro service
During his visit, the PM will also launch the second phase of the metro rail service connecting Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.
It is developed by the Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) in collaboration with the state government and the Centre. The project will expand the metro network, and connect key locations between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar like GNLU (Gujarat National Law University), PDEU (Pandit Deendayal Energy University), Gift City, Raysan, Randesan, Dholakuva, Infocity and Sector-1. The total project cost for Phase 2 metro is Rs 5,384 crore.
Vande Bharat trains to be launched
Several Vande Bharat trains will also be flagged off by PM Modi. These will operate on routes including Kolhapur-Pune, Pune-Hubballi, Nagpur-Secunderabad, Agra Cantt to Banaras, and Durg to Visakhapatnam. The first 20-coach Vande Bharat train will run between Varanasi and Delhi.