President Kovind salutes Indian Railways for great management as he rail travels from Kanpur to Lucknow

"My family is so happy and satisfied as we flawlessly travelled from Delhi to Kanpur to Lucknow by train. I congratulate the Indian Railways to keep up to the high hopes and trust of crores of people", wrote President Kovind in the Visitors log book as he travelled from Kanpur to Lucknow today. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal thanked the President for all his support and praises assuring to serve the society ahead.

 

 

President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday had embarked on a train journey to visit his birthplace in Uttar Pradesh, where interacted with his old acquaintances from school days and the early days of his social service. It would be after a gap of 15 years that an incumbent president traveled by train. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was also seen in pictures tweeted by the Rashtrapati Bhavan of the president boarding the train.

 

 

This is the first time that President Kovind visited his birthplace after becoming the President. Though he had desired to visit the place earlier, it could not materialise because of the coronavirus pandemic. The last time a president travelled by train was in 2006 when A P J Abdul Kalam boarded a special train from Delhi to Dehradun to attend the passing-out parade of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) cadets.

 

 

 

Records show that the country's first president, Rajendra Prasad, often undertook train journeys, the Rashtrapati Bhavan had said. Soon after taking office as the president, he visited his birthplace, Ziradei in Bihar's Siwan district. President Rajendra Prasad boarded the president's special train from Chhapra to reach Ziradei, where he spent three days, the statement said. He had travelled across the country by train.

 

His successors also preferred train journeys to connect with the people. The railways said that the service of the Presidential Saloon which was in use since independence had been discontinued on the instructions of the President. "This saved the exchequer crores of rupees annually utilized in the making and maintenance of the saloon. Post-Covid as the country enters into resurgence and a rebuilding mode, the Indian Railways had requested the President to travel by the people''s transport," the Northern Railways said in a statement.

 

 

It said a special train service was run for his excellency to travel from Delhi to his native village. "This move will be a great morale booster for the railwaymen who have diligently given their services throughout the difficult pandemic times. This will also help to encourage and build confidence among the people to use the trains to travel for business, tourism and other purposes to different parts of the country," the statement issued on Friday said.

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