Patna, Feb. 15 -- New Delhi, Feb 15: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged off the indigenous Train 18, renamed Vande Bharat Express, from the New Delhi railway station to his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi in the backdrop of the terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir which killed 45 troopers.

A sombre Modi told a gathering at the station that he was "grateful to designers and engineers behind Vande Bharat Express" which set off at 11.20 a.m.

The train will clock 160 km per hour -- the fastest on the Indian rail network.

The Prime Minister said with "our sincerity and hard work in the last four and half years, we have tried to improve the railways".

Earlier, Modi inspected the coaches and the engine cabin of th...