Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav described Kerala as the land of the Kathakali Origin, kalaripayattu and Ayurveda with the latest addition to the adjectives being Vande Bharat and thanked the PM for the travel experience.
He stated that the current design of the Vande Bharat moves at 180 kmph with a life span of 35 years. The tracks in Kerala have a peculiar curving rail pattern operating at 80-90kmph. The detailed blueprints include plans to install a world class system by removing curves and straightening the path assuring a speed of 110 kmph within a time span of 18-20 months.
He added that the PM has already sanctioned an amount of 38 crore in order to increase the sectional speed with active surveys and research employed on the project to increase speed within a time frame of 36-40 months.
The expected operating speed of the Vande Bharat trains from TVM to Mangalore is 6 1/2 hours and the time taken to cover distance from TVM to Kasargod is 5 1/2 hours. They are also equipping the whole system with the ‘KAVACH’ to provide a world class operating system.
- As PM Modi enthusiastically says ‘ Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas and Sabka Vishwas, in order to make this idea a reality the Central Government needs enormous support from the State Government and said the CM has assured him of the same.
- PM Modi has at present doubled, tripled and quadrupled the financial resources allocated for Kerala alone for the overall development of the Railways in general. The plan is to upgrade 34 stations into world class standard.
- He also added that the PM’s vision is for the next 50 years and should meet the needs and requirements of the people in the next 50 years. The Government will strongly try to maintain and preserve the old architecture while aiming for Global standards.
- There is a total of at least 10,000 crores of investment with major doubling and multi-tracking currently going on. The main idea behind this is to preserve our rich culture while trying to present it in the best possible way to the world.
- One major idea that will be inculcated through the railway upgrade will be the ‘One Station, One Product’ plan. This plan will be taken forward by setting up compact stall structures selling the local and famous products of Kerala and thus can include Honey, Pickles, Spices, Cashews etc and the average income earned by a person running the stall would be between Rs.30000-35000 on an average per month.
He concluded by saying that the PM has changed the country’s landscape by rolling out the fastest 5G technology using the power of ‘Digital India Initiative’ and has brought the Start-up Industry from an economy of 400 Start-ups to approximately 90,000 flourishing Start-ups.
