Ahmedabad: Union Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had transformed the railways, and asked the public to challenge the Congress, “which talks nonsense”, to a discussion on the basis of facts and figures.
Speaking at a gathering after flagging off the country’s first LNG train from Sabarmati station in Gujarat, Shah said the Congress did nothing apart from scams during its tenure, whereas “no one has been able to accuse Modi of corruption of even four annas in 12 years”.
“Before 2014, this country was ruled by one family. I want to talk only about railways. Dedicated freight corridor, rapid rail system, premium stations, all these have been started by Modiji. And by inaugurating a train running on hydrogen, he has placed India among just 4 countries in the world,” Shah said.
“The Congress speaks nonsense. The people of the country should ask them to discuss with figures. You (Congress) did nothing except fraud, scams and corruption worth Rs 12 lakh crore. But no one has been able to accuse Modi of corruption of even four annas in 12 years,” the Union Home minister asserted.
During the programme, Shah also flagged off WAG-12 electric locomotive from Sabarmati station apart from dedicating to the nation, inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of major railway projects costing more than Rs 1500 crore. Among these are line doubling works, the Kavach train protection system, automatic signalling system and a WAG-12 electric locomotive maintenance shed.
Hailing Modi, Shah said the trial of the first long double stack container train from Mumbai to Vadodara has been successfully completed, which would help the country tide over the lack of tracks for goods movement, resulting in doubling of vehicle capacity and ensuring that requirements are met by 2040.
“Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, he has brought several new facilities in the railways and modernised it. Under the Modi government, 11000 km long rail corridor is being converted into a 4-track network, which will lead to a lot of convenience in traffic,” Shah pointed out.
Shah said 97 per cent of all bio toilets were fixed in trains by the Modi government, while 87 per cent of LBH coaches were produced in India during the PM’s tenure.
Electrification of railways happened by 70 per cent, the budget for railway safety increased by 67 per cent, and the capacity of locomotive production increased by 66 per cent during Modi’s rule, he said.
“Modi solidified the concept of Make in India, the concept of self-reliant India, and this is the result of it. In 2015-16, Railways used 293 crore litres of diesel. By 2024-25 it will be 108 crore litres, and by 2030 it will be reduced to zero. We will save currency. This is a great achievement which does not come to people’s attention,” Shah said.
Shah said from 75 km annual electrification of railway tracks in 2010-11, it has increased to 7,188 km in 2023-24, adding that a difficult task has been completed very smoothly.
“Railways has completed 99.6 percent electrification. We will complete the remaining 0.3 percent. Electrification is 92 percent in China, 68 percent in Spain, 60 in France, and 49 percent in a small country like Britain. We will move ahead by ensuring it is 100 percent in India,” he said.
Speaking about the state, Shah said the allocation for Gujarat in the railway budget was Rs 589 crore in the 2009-14 period, which has risen to Rs 17366 in 2026-27.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Deputy CM Harsh Sanghavi and senior railway officials were present on the occasion.
