Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off four Vande Bharat trains from Varanasi on Saturday and claimed that his government had changed the perception that modern trains were meant for foreign countries only.
The new trains will operate on the Varanasi-Khajuraho, Lucknow-Saharanpur, Firozpur-Delhi and Ernakulam-Bengaluru routes.
“Over 160 Vande Bharat trains are running in the country now. They (earlier governments at the Centre) used to say that these trains are meant for foreign countries only and not for India. They had doubts whether we would be able to do this in India,” Modi told a gathering at Manduadih Railway Station.
“Isn’t it happening now? Are the trains not produced in our country now? Aren’t the people of our country manufacturing them? This is the power of our country. Even the foreign tourists are surprised to see Vande Bharat trains,” Modi, who is also the Varanasi MP, said.
The crowd that Modi addressed comprised BJP workers and school students who participated in poetry and painting competitions organised by the Indian Railways.
Suggesting that religion would remain the centrepiece of his government, Modi said: “Pilgrimage has been for centuries considered the medium of the country’s consciousness. These journeys are not mere acts of paying obeisance to god. It is a sacred tradition of connecting India’s soul.”
“Places like Prayagraj (Allahabad), Ayodhya, Haridwar, Chitrakoot and Kurukshetra are centres of our spiritual stream… They are symbols of India’s tradition,” he said.
The Varanasi-Khajuraho Vande Bharat will connect prominent cultural and religious destinations, including Varanasi, Prayagraj and Chitrakoot, officials said.
Modi claimed that the development work undertaken in Uttar Pradesh had taken pilgrimage to a new height in the last 11 years.
“About 11 crore pilgrims visited Kashi last year to pay obeisance to Baba Vishwanath. More than six crore people have visited Ram Lalla in Ayodhya after the construction of the Ram temple in January 2024. Uttar Pradesh has earned several thousand crores of revenue from these pilgrims. They have boosted businesses of hoteliers, transporters, artisans and boatmen,” he said.
Modi reached Varanasi on Friday evening after addressing an election rally in Bhabua in Bihar. He left for Darbhanga on Saturday after flagging off the trains in Varanasi.