Guj: PM to e-inaugurate rly stn, broad gauge link to SoU

Prime Minister Narendra Modiwill on Sunday inaugurate virtually the newly-built Kevadiarailway station near the Statue of Unity in Narmada districtand a broad gauge line connecting Vadodara with Kevadia,Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Friday.

The inauguration was earlier scheduled for Saturdaybut, apparently, got pushed back by a day due to the primeminister kicking off the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination driveon the same day.

''Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate theKevadia railway station through video-conference from NewDelhi on January 17. He will also inaugurate the Vadodara-Kevadia railway line on the same day,'' the chief minister saidin Jamnagar.

Rupani said the PM would flag off eight trains fromKevadia, some 195 kilometres from here, during the virtualfunction on Sunday.

In December 2018, President Ram Nath Kovind visitedKevadia, which is around 5 kilometres from the 182-metre tallStatue of Unity, and laid the foundation stone for the railwaystation, aimed at providing a direct rail link to the heavilypatronised monument from Vadodara, a major Western Railwayjunction.

To connect Kevadia with the main line, the railwaysconverted the 18-kilometre Dabhoi-Chandod narrow gauge lineinto broad gauge and connected Chandod with Kevadia by layinga 32-kilometre broad gauge line.

On January 18, the PM would also lay foundation stonesfor two metro train services in Gujarat via video-conferencefrom New Delhi, Rupani said.

''On January 18, the PM will lay the foundation stonefor phase-II of the metro project, connecting Ahmedabad withGandhinagar and GIFT City. He will also perform the virtualstone-laying ceremony of the upcoming metro train project forSurat city,'' the CM said.

Ahmedabad metro train service is divided into twophases, with the city getting covered in the first, and a linkto Gandhinagar in the second.

In March 2019, PM Modi had inaugurated the 6.5kilometre stretch of the Ahmedabad Metro train service.

Work on the remaining stretches of phase I is underprogress.

Ahmedabad Metro's first phase has two corridors, onefrom Vastral to Thaltej Gam and the second from Gyaspur depotto Motera stadium.

The second phase will be from Motera cricket stadiumtill Gandhinagar, officials had earlier said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)