Dehradun:Parties which ruled the country for many years and made tall claims of introducing high-speed trains could never get out of the constraints of dynastic politics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday while flagging off the Delhi-Dehradun Vande Bharat Express.

He also said that the budget for expansion of the railway infrastructure in Uttarakhand now stands at Rs 5,000 crore. Before 2014, it was less than Rs 200 crore, the prime minister said, addressing the launch event of the first Vande Bharat train for Uttarakhand via video conference.

“India of the 21st century can prosper even faster by modernising its infrastructure. Parties in power for a long time earlier did not realise this. Their focus was on indulging in scams and corruption. They could not get out of the constraints of dynastic politics. They also made tall claims about high-speed trains but years went by and nothing happened,” Modi said.

Press Trust of India