New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday virtually flagged off nine Vande Bharat Express trains and emphasised that these trains will improve connectivity as well as boost tourism across eleven states in the country.

The new trains will enhance connectivity in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Gujarat.

"Today people of Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Gujarat will get the facility of Vande Bharat Express trains," Modi said.

"These new Vande Bharat Express trains depict the new energy of the country," said Modi while flagging off these trains.

"The speed and the scale of infrastructure development are matching aspirations of 140 crore Indians" he added.

The PM said, "Twenty-five Vande Bharat trains are already operating, and now nine more will be added."

"The popularity of Vande Bharat trains is increasing in India day by day. Over 1,11,00,000 passengers have already travelled on them," he said.

"The nine Vande Bharat Express trains launched today will significantly improve connectivity as well as boost tourism across the country," he said.

On the modernization of several railway stations, Modi said, " Many railway stations which have not been developed for the past several years... work to develop these stations has started... and all the stations that will be developed during 'Amrit Kaal' will be called 'Amrit Bharat Stations".

Speaking at the event, Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the last nine years, the Railway system has transformed extraordinarily.

"The railway sector is being overhauled as per the future needs and today the railway stations are cleaner with newer facilities" he added.

The new trains flagged off today are: Udaipur - Jaipur Vande Bharat Express, Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express, Kacheguda-Yesvantpur Vande Bharat Express, Vijayawada - Chennai Vande Bharat Express, Patna - Howrah Vande Bharat Express, Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express, Rourkela -Puri Vande Bharat Express, Ranchi - Howrah Vande Bharat Express and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express.

(With UNI inputs)