Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate India’s first-ever driverless train operations on Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line (Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden) along with the fully operational National Common Mobility Card service on the Airport Express Line on December 28, 2020, at 11 am via video conferencing.
The driverless trains will be fully automated, which will eliminate the possibility of human error, a release from the Prime Minister Office said (PMO). After the start of driverless services on the Magenta Line, the Pink Line of Delhi Metro is expected to have driverless operations by mid-2021, the release added.
The PMO release also stated that the National Common Mobility Card, which will be fully operationalised on the Airport Express Line, will enable anyone carrying a RuPay-Debit Card issued from any part of the country to travel on the Airport Express Line using that card. This facility will become available on the entire Delhi Metro network by 2022.
The prime minister will also flag off the 100th Kisan Rail from Sangola in Maharashtra to Shalimar in West Bengal at 4:30 pm via video conferencing. Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Piyush Goyal will also be present on the occasion, the PMO said.
The multi-commodity train service will carry vegetables such as cauliflower, capsicum, cabbage, drumsticks, chillies, onion, as well as fruits like grapes, oranges, pomegranate, banana, custard apple etc, the PMO added.
The PMO further said that loading and unloading of perishable commodities will be permitted at all en route stoppages with no bar on size of the consignment. The Government of India has extended a subsidy of 50 per cent on transportation of fruits and vegetables, it stated.
The first Kisan Rail was introduced from Devlali to Danapur on August 7, 2020, which was extended up to Muzaffarpur. As a result of good response from the farmers, its frequency was also increased from weekly to three days a week.
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