Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday unveiled a slew of railway and road infrastructure projects worth Rs 3,250 crore at West Bengal's Malda region.
Announced just after the inauguration of India's first Vande Bharat Sleeper train, the investments are aimed at strengthening connectivity and accelerating development in West Bengal and Northeast India.
The new high-speed Vande Bharat train is the first of its kind in India, and will run between West Bengal's Howrah and Assam's Kamakhya.
The Rs 3,250 crore investment includes the four Amrit Bharat Express trains that PM Modi virtually flagged off for the northeastern parts of India.
The four new trains will operate on the following routes:
New Jalpaiguri-Nagercoil
Train #20604 will depart from Tamil Nadu's Nagercoil every Sunday at 11 PM and reach West Bengal's New Jalpaiguri on the fourth day at 5 AM.
Train #20603 will depart from New Jalpaiguri every Wednesday at 4:45 PM and arrive in Nagercoil on the third day at 11:00 PM.
New Jalpaiguri-Tiruchirappalli
Train #20601 will leave from Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirappalli every Wednesday at 5:45 AM and reach New Jalpaiguri on the third day at 5:00 AM.
Train #20609 will leave from New Jalpaiguri every Friday at 4:45 pm and arrive in Tiruchirappalli at 4:15 pm on the third day.
Alipurduar-SMVT Bengaluru
Train #16597 will depart from SMVT Bengaluru every Saturday at 8:50 AM and reach West Bengal's Alipurduar on the third day at 10:25 AM.
Train #16598 will depart from Alipurduar every Monday at 10:25 PM and reach SMVT Bengaluru on the fourth day at 3:00 AM.
Alipurduar-Mumbai (Panvel)
Train #11031 will leave from Mumbai's Panvel every Monday at 11:50 AM and reach Alipurduar on the third day at 1:50 PM.
Train #11032 will leave Alipurduar every Thursday at 4:45 AM and reach Panvel on the third day at 5:30 AM.
Other announcements
These services will support the mobility needs of common citizens, students, migrant workers and traders, while strengthening inter-state economic and social linkages," PM Modi said in an official statement.
Apart from the launch of the four Amrit Bharat Express trains, Modi also laid the foundation stone for four major railway projects in the poll-bound state.
This includes the new rail line between Balurghat and Hili, state-of-the-art freight maintenance facilities at New Jalpaiguri, the renovation of the Siliguri Loco Shed, the modernisation of Vande Bharat train maintenance facilities in Jalpaiguri, and the electrification of rail lines connecting the New Coochbehar-Bamanhat and New Coochbehar-Boxirhat routes.
He also flagged off two new train services equipped with Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches for better comfort.
These are the Radhikapur-SMVT Bengaluru Express and the Balurghat-SMVT Bengaluru Express.
Other infrastructure projects, announced as part of the Rs 3,250 crore package, include the renovation and four-laning of the Dhupguri-Falakata section of National Highway 31D, to improve regional road connectivity in the northern swathes of the state.