Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off Vande Bharat Express from Una Himachal railway station today during his visit to the mountain state.

Heralding a new era of comfortable and enhanced rail travel experience, the new Vande Bharat Express is now ready for a commercial run. Running from Amb Andaura to New Delhi, it will be the fourth Vande Bharat train to be introduced in the country and is an advanced version compared to the earlier ones, being much lighter and capable of reaching higher speed in shorter duration.

Talking about the inauguration of Vande Bharat, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said that railway expansion has taken place in Himachal Pradesh due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts and on Thursday, Vande Bharat train will be flagged off from Una to Delhi.

“Himachal Pradesh is a second home for PM Modi. Vande Bharat train will be flagged off from Una to Delhi. Due to PM Modi’s efforts, railway expansion has happened in Himachal Pradesh. Bulk Drug Park is also being built,” said Thakur.

It accelerates to 100 Km/h in just 52 seconds. The introduction of the train will help boost tourism in the region and provide a comfortable and faster mode of travel.

This is the fourth Vande Bharat train in the country, the other three being run between New Delhi – Varanasi and New Delhi – Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra and between Gandhinagar and Mumbai.

Vande Bharat Express is a new-age train redefining passenger travelling in India.

PM will also dedicate IIIT Una to the nation and lay the foundation stone of Bulk Drug Park in Una in a public function. After that, in a public function at Chamba, Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of two hydropower projects and launch Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)-III in Himachal Pradesh, read a press statement from the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday.

Modi will lay the foundation stone of Bulk Drug Park at Haroli in Una district, built at the cost of over Rs 1900 crore.

“The Park will help reduce dependence on API imports. It is expected to attract investment of around Rs. 10,000 crores and provide employment to more than 20,000 people. It will also give a fillip to economic activities in the region,” the statement read.

PM Modi will lay the foundation stone of two hydropower projects – the 48 MW Chanju-III Hydro-electric Project and the 30 MW Deothal Chanju Hydro-electric Project. Both these projects will generate over 270 million units of electricity annually and Himachal Pradesh is expected to get annual revenue of around Rs 110 crore from these projects.

Prime Minister will also launch Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)-III in Himachal Pradesh for upgradation of around 3125 km of roads in the state. More than Rs 420 crore has been sanctioned by the Central Government under this phase for the upgradation of 440 kms of roads in 15 border and far-flung blocks of the state.