The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has launched the 32 km Ahmedabad Metro phase I, in Gujarat, with an inauguration trip from Kalupur station to Doordarshan Kendra station on September 30, 2022. At the same time, the Gandhinagar- Mumbai Vande Bharat express has been launched at Gandhinagar station which will also be connected to the second phase of metro corridor.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel, Governor of Gujarat, Acharya Devvrat, and Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri.
“The transport system in the city should be modern and should have seamless connectivity where one mode of transport supports the other,” Narendra Modi said.
The first phase of Ahmedabad Metro comprises 32 km of metro line on East – West corridor between Apparel Park and Thaltej stations and on North – South corridor between Motera to Gyaspur.
The Thaltej – Vastral route on the East – West corridor is 13 km long, 6.6 km of which underground and is served by 17 stations, with 4 underground stations. The 19 km North – South corridor that connects Gyaspur to Motera Stadium has 15 stations. The line passes through the areas where public transport is needed the where takes a lot of time to drive on the narrow roads.
USD 1.6 billion was the total investment to build the Ahmedabad Metro phase I which included ballastless rail tracks, tunnels, viaducts and bridges, as well as elevated and underground stations. The line is used by driverless metro trains equipped with an energy-efficient propulsion system which can save about 30-35% of energy consumption. The train has a state of art suspension system providing a very smooth riding experience to passengers.
The new metro line offers multimodal connections to the heavy rail network at Gandhidham, Kalupur and Sabarmati stations and at Kalupur, the metro line will be connected to the high-speed rail system connecting Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The metro line also provides transport links to the BRT system including the City Bus services.
The PM also inaugurated the Gandhinagar – Mumbai Vande Bharat Express train, which provides connection to the metro network, travelling from Gandhinagar station to Kalupur, where a multimodal transport hub is being developed. To inaugurate both rail transport services, Narendra Modi made a multimodal trip mixing metro and railway transport. “This is the country’s third and Gujarat’s first Vande Bharat train. I travelled to Kalupur metro station from Kalupur railway station and then reached Thaltej by taking Ahmedabad Metro train. If somebody is travelling to Gujarat in Vande Bharat, he can board the metro train at the station itself and reach home or go to another part of the city for work. Despite the challenges of building a metro track over the railway line, this work has been completed quickly. This also did not require additional land for the Metro,” Modi said.
The Vande Bharat train connects Ahmedabad and Mumbai reducing the journey time and distance while providing increased comfort and rapid transport services. The normal train takes around seven to eight hours to reach Mumbai from Ahmedabad but taking Vande Bharat train built the journey time will be cut to 5 ½ hours.
The Vande Bharat train is manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory at the plant in Chennai. The company will roll out at least 75 new express trains in August 2023 which will undergo trials for 15,000 km to check various technical and operative functionalities. “These trains will change the condition of Indian Railways and will also change the direction. We are working fast on the target of running 75 Vande Bharat Express trains by August next year. The beauty of India’s Vande Bharat train is that it reaches the speed of 100 kmph in just 52 seconds,” the prime minister said.
The Integral Coach Factory, owned by Indian Railways, will manufacture 475 Vande Bharat trains until 2026. The 16-car train is able to run at a speed of 180 km/h and is equipped with train-collision avoidance system (KAVACH), emergency lighting, and CCTV. The train provides reclining seats at all classes while the Executive Coaches have the added feature of 180-degree rotating seats. Every coach is equipped with 32” screens providing passenger information and infotainment.
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