Amit Shah flags off India's first LNG train and launches Rs 1,500 crore rail projects in Gujarat

Union Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had transformed the railways and asked people to challenge the Congress, which he said "talks nonsense", to a discussion based on facts and figures. He was speaking after flagging off the country’s first LNG train from Sabarmati station in Ahmedabad.

At the event, Shah also flagged off a WAG-12 electric locomotive and dedicated, inaugurated and laid foundation stones for railway projects worth more than Rs 1,500 crore. These included line doubling works, the Kavach train protection system, an automatic signalling system and a WAG-12 electric locomotive maintenance shed.

Shah said that before 2014, the country was ruled by "one family" and said he wanted to speak only about the railways. "Dedicated freight corridor, rapid rail system, premium stations, all these have been started by PM Modiji. And by inaugurating a train running on hydrogen, he has placed India among just 4 countries in the world," he said.

Targeting the Congress, 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 PM Modi of corruption of even four annas in 12 years," the Union Home Minister asserted.

He said a trial of the first long double stack container train from Mumbai to Vadodara had been completed successfully and would help address the shortage of tracks for goods movement, double vehicle capacity and meet requirements up to 2040. Shah said that since PM Modi came to power in 2014, several new facilities had been introduced in the railways and the system had been modernised. He said an 11,000-km rail corridor was being converted into a four-track network to ease traffic movement.

Shah said 97 per cent of all bio-toilets in trains were installed by the PM Modi government, while 87 per cent of LHB coaches were produced in India during PM Modi’s tenure. He added that railway electrification rose by 70 per cent, the budget for railway safety increased by 67 per cent, and locomotive production capacity went up by 66 per cent during this period.

"PM 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.

He said annual railway track electrification had risen from 75 km in 2010-11 to 7,188 km in 2023-24. "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.

Referring to Gujarat, Shah said the state’s allocation in the railway budget was Rs 589 crore during 2009-14 and had risen to Rs 17,366 crore in 2026-27. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Deputy CM Harsh Sanghavi and senior railway officials were present at the programme, where Shah highlighted the new projects, railway expansion and the government’s claims on modernisation and electrification.