New Delhi, Sep 24 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday virtually flagged off nine Vande Bharat Express trains, saying these trains will improve connectivity as well as boost tourism across eleven states in the country.

The States are Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat.

"Today people of Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Gujarat will get the facility of Vande Bharat Express trains.

These new Vande Bharat Express trains depict the new energy of the country," said Modi, while flagging off these trains.

"Speed, the scale of infrastructure development is matching aspirations of 140 crore Indians" he added.

The PM said, "Twenty-five Vande Bharat trains are already running, now nine more will be added to them".

"The popularity of Vande Bharat trains is increasing in India day-by-day. Over 1,11,00,000 passengers have already travelled on them". he said.

"Nine Vande Bharat Express trains being launched today will significantly improve connectivity as well as boost tourism across the country.

Talking about the modernization of several railway stations, Modi said, " Many railway stations which have not been developed for the past several years... Works to develop these stations are underway... All the stations that will be developed in the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Kaal' will be called 'Amrit Bharat Stations".

Speaking at the event, Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the last nine years, Railway system has transformed extraordinarily.

"The railway sector is being renovated as per the future needs and today the railway stations are cleaner with newer facilities" he added.

The new trains that are flagged off are Udaipur - Jaipur Vande Bharat Express, Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express, Kacheguda-Yesvantpur Vande Bharat Express, Vijayawada - Chennai Vande Bharat Express, Patna - Howrah Vande Bharat Express, Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express, Rourkela -Puri Vande Bharat Express, Ranchi - Howrah Vande Bharat Express and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express.

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