Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated India’s first-ever driverless train on Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line. The prime minister also launched National Common Mobility Card on the Airport Express Line, via video conferencing. At the event, Prime Minister Modi said, “The inauguration of the first driverless metro train shows how fast India is moving towards smart systems. Today Delhi Metro is being connected to the National Common Mobility Card. A few decades ago, when the impact of urbanisation and the future of urbanisation were both clear, the country saw a different attitude.”
There was not much attention about the needs of the future, half-hearted work was done, confusion persisted, he added.
“Unlike this, modern thinking says that urbanisation should not be seen as a challenge and used as an opportunity. An opportunity in which we can build better infrastructure in the country. An opportunity through which we can increase Ease of Living. This difference of thinking is seen in every dimension of urbanization,” said PM Modi.
In 2014, only five cities had a metro rail. Today, metro rail services are available in 18 cities, the prime minister stated.
“By the year 2025, we are going to expand it to more than 25 cities. In 2014, only 248 km of metro lines were operational in the country. Today it is about three times more than seven hundred kilometers. By the year 2025, we are trying to expand it to 1,700 kilometers,” he added.
These are not just figures, they are proof of Ease of Living coming in the lives of crores of Indians, PM said. “This is not just infrastructure made of brick and stone, concrete and iron, but are evidence of the fulfillment of the aspirations of the citizens of the country, the middle class of the country,” he added.