0 Trains from (GGN)GURGAON to (TPU)TANAKPUR

ØDedicates to the nation newly electrified rail sections and declares Uttarakhand 100% electric traction state.

ØDelhi-Dehradun Vande Bharat Express will ensure ‘Ease of Travel’ as well as greater comfort for the citizens

ØIndia has become a ray of hope for the world when it comes to strengthening the economy and fighting poverty

ØThis decade is going to be the decade of Uttarakhand

ØDevbhoomi will be the center of the spiritual consciousness of the world

ØGovernment’s focus is o­n the Navratnas of Development for Uttrakhand

ØDouble engine government is working with double power and double speed

ØThe India of 21st century can scale further heights of development by maximizing the potential of infrastructure

ØParvat Mala Project is going to change the state's fortune in the coming days

ØRight intention, policy and dedication is driving development

ØThe country is not going to stop now, the country has now caught its pace. The whole country is moving ahead at the speed of Vande Bharat and will continue to move ahead

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi flagged off the inaugural run of Vande Bharat Express from Dehradun to Delhi via video conferencing today. He also dedicated to the nation, newly electrified rail sections and declared Uttarakhand a 100% electric traction state.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister congratulated everyone from Uttarakhand for the inaugural Vande Bharat  Express between Dehradun and Delhi and said the train will connect the nation’s capital to the Dev Bhoomi of Uttrakhand. He informed that the travel time between the two cities will be further reduced and the o­nboard facilities will make for a pleasant travel experience.

Throwing light o­n his three-nation tour to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia, the Prime Minister underlined that the world is looking at India with high hopes. “India has become a ray of hope for the world when it comes to strengthening the economy and fighting poverty”, the Prime Minister said. He also touched upon India’s tackling of the Coronavirus pandemic and the world's largest vaccination campaign carried out in the country. The Prime Minister emphasized that beautiful states like Uttarakhand should make the most of today's situation when people from around the world want to come to India. Shri Modi underlined that the Vande Bharat train is also going to help Uttarakhand in taking full advantage of this opportunity.

The Prime Minister recalled his visit to Kedarnath and remembered his spontaneous statement that ‘This decade is going to be the decade of Uttarakhand’. He praised the development push of the state while keeping the law and order situation strong. The Prime Minister expressed the hope that ‘Devbhoomi will be the center of the spiritual consciousness of the world.’ He said that we will have to work to realize this potential. He mentioned that the number of pilgrims for the  Char Dham Yatra keeps o­n breaking old records. He also talked about the devotees coming for the darshan of Baba Kedar, Kumbh/Ardh Kumbh at Haridwar and Kanwar Yatra. He said that not many states have this number of devotees arriving and it is a gift as well as a monumental task. “Double engine government is working with double power and double speed to make this ‘Bhagirath’ task easy”, he added.

The Prime Minister said that the government’s emphasis is o­n the ‘Navratna’, 9 gems of development. First Ratna, he said, is Rs 1300 crore rejuvenation work at Kedarnath-Badrinath Dham. Second, Rs 2500 crore Ropeway project at Gaurikund-Kedarnath and Gobind Ghat- Hemkunt Sahib. Third, the renovation of ancient temples of Kumaon under Manas Khand Mandir Mala programme. Fourth, the promotion of Homestay in the entire state where more than 4000 homestays have been registered in the state. Fifth, the development of 16 ecotourism destinations. Sixth, expansion of health services in Uttarakhand. AIIMS satellite center is coming up in Udham Singh Nagar. Seventh, Rs 2000 cr Tehri Lake Development Project. Eighth, the development of Haridwar Rishikesh as the capital of Yoga and adventure tourism and finally, the Tanakpur Bageshwar Rail Line.

He said these Navratnas are being consolidated with a new push to infrastructure development in the state. Work is going o­n at a rapid pace o­n Rs 12,000 cr Char Dham Mahapariyojana, he informed. Delhi Dehradun Expressway will make the journey faster and easier. He also talked about the Ropeway connectivity in Uttarakhand. “Parvat Mala Project is going to change the state's fortune in the coming days”, he said. He remarked that the Rs 16,000 cr Rishikesh-Karanprayag Rail Project will be completed in 2-3 years. The Project will make a big part of Uttarakhand accessible and will push investment, industry and employment.

The Prime Minister remarked that with the assistance of the Central Government, Uttarakhand is emerging as the hub of tourism, adventure tourism, film shooting destination and wedding destination. He said that the tourist spots of the state are attracting visitors from all across the globe and the Vande Bharat Express will be greatly beneficial to them. The Prime Minister observed that traveling by train remains the first choice for those who are accompanied by their family members and the Vande Bharat is gradually becoming the go-to means of transportation.

“The India of the 21st century can scale further heights of development by maximizing the potential of infrastructure”, the Prime Minister remarked as he pointed out that the governments of the past could not understand the importance of infrastructure while they were preoccupied with corruption and dynastic politics. Even though huge promises were made by the previous governments regarding high-speed trains in India, the Prime Minister observed that they even failed to get rid of unmanned gates from the rail network, while the state of electrification of rail lines was even worse. The Prime Minister informed that o­nly o­ne-third of the country's rail network had been electrified by 2014 making it impossible to think of a fast-running train. “The all-around work to transform the railways began after 2014”, the Prime Minister said.  He underlined that the work to implement the dream of the country's first high-speed train began in full swing while also preparing the whole network for semi-high-speed trains. The Prime Minister informed that 600 km of rail lines were electrified every year o­n an average before 2014 whereas 6 thousand kilometers of railway lines are being electrified every year today. “Today, more than 90 percent of the country's railway network has been electrified. In Uttarakhand, 100 percent electrification of the entire rail network has been achieved”, the Prime Minister informed.

The Prime Minister credited the development work to the right intention, policy and dedication. Underlining that the boost in the railway budget in comparison to 2014 has directly benefited Uttarakhand, the Prime Minister informed that 5 years before 2014, the average budget for the state was less than Rs 200 crore whereas today the rail budget is 5 thousand crore rupees, a 25 fold increase. The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of connectivity in a hilly state where people from the villages migrated due to a lack of connectivity and underlined that the Government wants to prevent that suffering for the coming generations. He also noted that modern connectivity will also be of great use in easy access to our borders and the soldiers defending the nation should not be inconvenienced in any way.

Concluding the address, the Prime Minister said that the double-engine government is committed to the development of Uttarakhand where the rapid development of Uttarakhand will also help in the rapid development of India. “The country is not going to stop now, the country has now caught its pace. The whole country is moving ahead at the speed of Vande Bharat and will continue to move ahead”, the Prime Minister concluded.

Background

This will be the first Vande Bharat to be introduced in Uttarakhand. With world-class amenities, it will herald a new era of comfortable travel experiences, especially for tourists traveling to the state. The train has been indigenously and is equipped with advanced safety features including the Kavach technology. The new Vande Bharat Express will cover the distance between Dehradun to Delhi in 4.5 hours.

Guided by the vision of the Prime Minister of providing cleaner means of public transport, Indian Railways is o­n a quest to completely electrify rail routes in the country. Moving ahead in this direction, the Prime Minster dedicated the newly electrified rail line sections in Uttarakhand. With this, the state will have its entire rail route 100% electrified. Trains run by electric traction o­n the electrified sections will result in an increase in the speed of trains and enhance haulage capacity.

Southern Railway has taken up Katpadi Station redevelopment in order to offer a world-class ambience, futuristic infra and airport-like facilities for passengers. Tender was awarded for the redevelopment in September 2022 and the redevelopment work is progressing at a steady pace.

Works executed recently

·Architectural & structural drawing of Phase-I & Phase II buildings.

·Environment monitoring survey completed.

·GRIHA rating for Katpadi station Redevelopment work.

·Project Management Site Office construction completed.

·Staff quarters footing work completed.

Other works in progress

·Site laboratory & mess construction work in progress.

·Setting up of a Batching plant in progress.

·Architectural & structural Design of the Station Buildings, Multi-level Car Parking, Multi-level Two-wheeler Parking, Foot-Over-Bridge, Air-Concourse & other buildings in progress.

·Staff quarters foundation backfilling in progress.

·Site cleaning & Marking for Scout, Artesian, RPF barrack in progress.

Works executed So far

·Master Plan Validation completed.

·Traffic Survey work completed.

·Utility Scanning completed.

·Preliminary works such as Mapping and Topographical survey, drone survey, DGPS Survey, Traffic survey, tree inventory, joint inventory of movable and immovable assets.

·All kind of Soil test (Geotechnical investigation) completed at various locations.

·Project management Services have commenced work.

·Site clearance work completed for building locations for Phase-I & Phase II.

·Right of way, which is a legal right to enter and carry out the work, has been provided to the EPC contractor for construction of Phase-I building for Staff quarters (Type-II - 16 units, 2 blocks), Barrack and Scout, P- way and Signal Warehouse, SSE Tele/Signal yard space, Gang tool cum Restroom Artisans room, Parcel/RMS office and Elevated trolley path, MLCP/MLTP and PWAY shed, Sump, STP , Solid waste management System including incinerator, External Service, Departure Air Concourse & Departure terminal building.

·On a regular basis project review meetings are held with the stakeholders of the project.

·Fabrication of Sign boards & barricades completed.

Katpadi (KPD) Station Redevelopment works

The work of redevelopment of Katpadi Railway station was awarded as EPC contract to M/s Engineering Projects (India) Ltd, Chennai at a cost of Rs. 329.32 Crore, setting a time frame of 36 months from D Date, i.e. from 01-12-2022, for completion of the project.  M/sVoyants Solutions Pvt Ltd, Gurgaon have been tasked with the work of Project Management services (PMS) at a cost of Rs.7.89 Crore.

Two terminals (Arrival & Departure) are proposed to be constructed in the southern side, connected by Air concourses while arrival & departure lobby will be constructed in the Northern side. The Terminal Buildings will be equipped with world class amenities like waiting lounge, ticketing area, commercial area and Roof plaza etc. Elevated skywalks and subways with adequate lifts/escalators will connect both of these terminals to the bus stand thus enabling hassle-free inter-modal connectivity.  A dedicated space for handling parcels will also be constructed.

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