After success of Vande Bharat train, PM Modi asked...: Railway Minister

Like Vande Bharat trains, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the Railway Ministry to develop Vande Metro, a train concept that runs between two trains. to major stations nearby, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters, he also said that last year, Indian Railways had given a subsidy worth ₹ 59,000, which is equivalent to 55 percent discount per passenger, for transportation of food, fertilizers and many other goods.

"The Honorable Prime Minister has set a target for this year. After the success of the Vande Bharati train (he asked) to develop a new world-class regional train which will become the Vande Metro," he said.

The minister said that they plan to have the prototype ready in the next 12-16 months and then put it into service and for at least a year. Explaining the concept of the metro

Vande, he said that the trains travel between two cities that are less than 100 km apart.

According to him such trains are called "regional trance" in Europe. He said that nearly 12,00,000 km of the Vande Bharat trains have been covered in the last two and a half years and a new train is being commissioned every seven to eight days.

The Railway Minister said that Vande Bharati train between Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam is working very well and occupancy is close to 120 percent, therefore the department is taking more lines in Telangana.

Rebuking reports of railway privatisation, Mr Vaishnaw said the central government was doing everything for the ministry and "there is no talk of privatisation". He said the center plans to develop Hyderabad city as a hub for 6G and advanced rail technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and IoT.

"So centers of excellence are being developed in Hyderabad for these two important very futuristic technologies," he said.

Regarding the recently presented Union Budget, the Minister said that it is one of the most important budgets ever presented in this country, when the whole world is going through a very difficult and uncertain time.

He said that more allocations have been made in the Telangana Railways budget and if the state government cooperates, the funds would be much more.