Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated Phase I of the redeveloped Ayodhya railway station – known as Ayodhya Dham junction railway station – and flag off new Amrit Bharat and Vande Bharat trains. He also dedicated several other railway projects to the nation. Modi arrived in Ayodhya to a warm reception by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

Modi’s visit to Ayodhya comes weeks before the grand consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple on January 22.

He is also scheduled to inaugurate the Maharishi Valmiki International Airport Ayodhya Dham airport at 12.15pm.

Around 1pm, Modi will participate in a public programme during which he will inaugurate, delicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth more than ₹15,000 crore in the state.

These include projects worth about ₹11,100 crore for the development of Ayodhya and its surrounding areas and projects worth about ₹4,600 crore related to other projects across Uttar Pradesh.

Things to know about Ayodhya Dham Junction railway station

• The Ayodhya Dham Junction railway station has been developed at a cost of more than ₹240 crore.
• The three-storey modern railway station building is equipped with all modern features like lifts, escalators, food plazas, shops for puja needs, cloakrooms, child care rooms, and waiting halls.
• The station building will be ‘accessible for all’ and an ‘IGBC-certified green station building’.

Two Amrit Bharat and six Vande Bharat trains

Modi will flag off two Amrit Bharat and six Vande Bharat Express trains from the redeveloped Ayodhya Dham Railway Station.

• Amrit Bharat Express is a new category of superfast passenger trains, equipped with the LHB push-pull feature. However, these trains come with non-air-conditioned coaches.
• This train has locos at both ends for better acceleration. It provides improved facilities for rail passengers, like beautifully designed seats, better luggage racks, mobile charging points with suitable mobile holders, LED lights, CCTV, and a public information system, among others.
• The new Amrit Bharat trains that will ply as Darbhanga-Ayodhya-Anand Vihar Terminal Amrit Bharat Express and Malda Town-Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminus (Bengaluru) Amrit Bharat Express.
• The Vande Bharat Express trains were flagged off include Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express; Amritsar-Delhi Vande Bharat Express; Coimbatore-Bangalore Cantt Vande Bharat Express; Mangalore-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express; Jalna-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express and Ayodhya-Anand Vihar Terminal Vande Bharat Express.
• The PM also dedicated to the nation three railway projects worth ₹2,300 crore to strengthen rail infrastructure in the region. The projects include the Rooma Chakeri-Chanderi third line project; Jaunpur-Tulsi Nagar, Akbarpur-Ayodhya, Sohawal-Patranga and Safdarganj-Rasauli sections of the Jaunpur-Ayodhya-Barabanki doubling project; and doubling and electrification project of the Malhaur-Daliganj railway section.