During his Independence Day speech, PM Modi also highlighted steps to improve connectivity in the North-East region

75 Vande Bharat trains will connect every corner of the country by next year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Sunday.

These trains will commence operations during the 75 weeks of the Amrit Mahotsav (75th year) of the country's independence, PM Modi said during his address to the nation on Independence Day.

The Vande Bharat Express is a semi high speed, fully air conditioned train. It has quicker acceleration compared to other trains and feature contemporary passenger amenities.

These include onboard infotainment and GPS based passenger information system, CCTV, automatic sliding doors with retractable coach footsteps and zero discharge vacuum-based bio-toilets.

Two such trains are already in operation on the Delhi-Varanasi and Delhi-Katra Vaishno Devi routes.

During his address, PM Modi also highlighted steps to improve connectivity in the North-East region.

"Today a new history of connectivity is being written in the North-East. This is a connectivity of both the hearts and the infrastructure. Very soon the work of connecting all the state capitals of the North-East with rail service is going to be completed," PM Modi said.

He added that under the Act-East Policy, the North-East, Bangladesh, Myanmar and South-East Asia were also being connected.

"Due to the efforts made in the past years, now the enthusiasm for the creation of Shreshtha Bharat and long-lasting peace in the North-East has increased manifold," the Prime Minister noted.

The pace at which new airports were being built in the country and the UDAN scheme connecting remote areas is unprecedented, he pointed out.