NEW DELHI: By 2025, metro train services will be expanded to over 25 cities across the country, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while adding that “Make In India” is essential for the expansion.”The first metro in the country was started with the efforts of Atal Ji. When our government was formed in 2014, only five cities had metro services and today 18 cities have metro rail service. By 2025, we will take this service to more than 25 cities,” said PM Modi.”Make In India is very important for the expansion of metro services. It reduces cost, saves foreign currency and provides more employment to people,” he added.The Prime Minister inaugurated India’s first-ever driverless train on Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line and launched National Common Mobility Card on the Airport Express Line today, via video conferencing.”We noted that the expansion of the metro, modern modes of transport should be used according to the needs of the people of the city and the professional lifestyle there,” the PM added.This is the reason why work is being done on different types of metro rails in different cities, he said.”Delhi-Meerut RRTS will reduce the distance of Delhi and Meerut to less than an hour. MetroLight – In cities where passenger numbers are less, work is being done on MetroLite version. It is prepared at 40 per cent cost of the normal metro,” said PM Modi.”Work is also being done on Metro Neo in the cities where the ridership is less. It is built at the cost of 25 per cent of the normal metro. Similarly, water metro – this is also an example of out of the box thinking,” he added.Today, four big companies are manufacturing metro coaches in the country and dozens of companies are engaged in the manufacture of metro components. This is helping Make in India as well as the campaign for self-reliant India, the Prime Minister stated.”We are also using a braking system in which 50 per cent of the energy goes back into the grid when the brakes are applied. Today 130 MW of solar power is being used in metro rail, which will be increased to 600 MW,” said PM Modi.”Providing the same standards and facilities for modernisation is very important. The Common Mobility Card at the national level is a major step in this direction. Wherever you travel, whichever public transport you travel, this one card will give you integrated access,” he added.Today, by consolidating all the systems, the strength of the country is being increased. Like One Nation, One Mobility Card, our government has done many things in the past years to integrate the systems of the country, the Prime Minister said.”One Nation, One Fastag has made travel seamless on highways across the country. One Nation, One Tax i.e. GST has ended the tax net across the country. One Nation, One Power Grid, is ensuring adequate and continuous power availability in every part of the country. Power loss is reduced,” said PM Modi.One Nation, One Gas Grid, is ensuring Seamless Gas Connectivity of the parts where gas-based life and economy used to be a dream earlier, the Prime Minister said.One Nation, One Health Assurance Scheme i.e. millions of people from Ayushman India are taking advantage of this anywhere in the country, he further stated.”Citizens moving from one place to another because of One Nation, One Ration Card, have got freedom from the cycle of making new ration cards. Similarly, the country is moving in the direction of One Nation, One Agriculture Market with new agricultural reforms and arrangements like e-NAM,” he said.
