PM Modi inaugurates ‘New Bhaupur- New Khurja section’ of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor

(Image Credit: Alstom)

New Delhi, India (Urban Transport News): Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the ‘New Bhaupur- New Khurja section’ of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) today at 11 am via video conferencing.  During the event, Prime Minister also inaugurated EDFC’s state of the art Operation Control Centre (OCC) at Prayagraj. Governor of Uttar Pradesh Smt. Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath and Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal were present on the occasion.  This section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) has been built by Tata Projects Ltd, one of India's fastest-growing and most admired infrastructure companies.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister expressed happiness on seeing the modern rail infrastructure project getting implemented on the ground. He said today when the first goods train runs in the Khurja Bhaupur freight corridor we can hear the roar of Self-reliant India. He said Prayagraj Operation Control center is one of the modern control centers and a symbol of the new strength of the new India.

The Prime Minister said Infrastructure is the biggest source of any nation's strength. He said as India is moving fast towards the path of becoming a big economic power, then the best connectivity is the priority of the country. He said the Government is working on every aspect of modern connectivity for the last six years with this in mind. He said the Government is focussing on the five wheels of highways, railways, airways, waterways and i-ways. He said today’s inauguration of a large section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor is a big step in this direction.

The Prime Minister stressed the need for these dedicated freight corridors. He said as the population grew, the Economy grew, the demand for freight increased manifold. He said since both Passenger trains and Goods trains ply on the same track, the speed of the goods train is slow. He said when the speed of the goods train is slow, and there is an interruption in place, obviously, the cost of transportation will be high. He added being expensive, our products lose the competition in our markets of the country as well as abroad. He said the Dedicated Freight Corridor was planned to change this situation.

Initially, 2 Dedicated Freight Corridors were planned. Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) from Ludhiana to Dankuni. This route has coal mines, Thermal power plants and industrial cities. Feeder routes are also being made for these. Western Dedicated Freight Corridor from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust to Dadri. In this corridor, ports like Mundra, Kandla, Pipavav, Dawri and Hazira would be served through feeder routes. He said the Industrial corridor of Delhi-Mumbai and Amritsar-Kolkata are being developed around both these Freight Corridor. He said similarly North to south and east to west Corridors are also being planned.

"We are proud to share that in a landmark moment, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the first fully operational section of the Dedicated Freight Corridor just now. The state-of-the-art Operation Control Centre (OCC) setup by Alstom, which will be the ‘nerve-center’ of the entire Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, was also officially inaugurated. Two fully loaded freight trains hauled by Alstom’s WAG 12 eLocomotives, each carrying more than 10,00 Tonnes of coal and food grains took off from Bhaupur & Khurja respectively," said Alstom officials.

The 351 km New Bhaupur- New Khurja section of EDFC is situated in Uttar Pradesh and is built at a cost of Rs 5,750 crores. The section will open new vistas of opportunity for the local industries such as the aluminum industry (Pukhrayan region of Kanpur Dehat district), dairy sector (Auraiya district), textile production/block printing (Etawah district), glassware industry (Firozabad district), pottery products (Khurja of Bulandshahr district), asafoetida or ‘hing’ production (Hathras district) and locks and hardware (Aligarh district). The section will also decongest the existing Kanpur-Delhi mainline and will enable Indian Railways to run faster trains.  

A state-of-the-art Operation Control Centre (OCC) at Prayagraj will act as the command centre for the entire route length of the EDFC. The OCC is one of the largest structures of its type globally, with modern interiors, ergonomic design and best-in-class acoustics. The building is environment-friendly with a Green Building rating of GRIHA4 and is built as per norms of the ‘Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan’.