30 December NEW STRETCH OF EASTERN DEDICATED FREIGHT CORRIDOR

Prime Minister inaugurated the ‘New Bhaupur – New Khurja section’ of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) in Uttar Pradesh via video conferencing,  built by Tata Projects Limited, one of India’s fastest-growing and most admired infrastructure companies.

The prime minister also inaugurated the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor’s (EDFC) operation control centre at Prayagraj.

KEY POINTS:

1. The EDFC is 1,840-km-long in total and extends from Ludhiana in Punjab to Kolkata in West Bengal.

2.The 351-km section, which has been built at a cost of ?5,750 crore, will open new avenues for local industries in Uttar Pradesh.

3.Constructed as per international standards, the New Bhaupur – New Khurja section of EDFC can carry 35-tonne axle loads which is much higher than the current 25-tonne axle load tracks.

4.The new EDFC tracks are built with the ability to run freight trains at speed of 100-km/hr (the current average speed of freight trains is 25 km/hr).

5.In India, for the first time, modern track laying machines were used by Tata Projects for laying these tracks.

6.The new freight section will open new vistas of opportunity for local industries such as aluminium industry in Pukhrayan region of Kanpur Dehat, dairy sector of Auraiya, textile production and block printing of Etawah, glassware industry of Firozabad, pottery products of Khurja, asafoetida or ‘heeng’ production of Hathras, and locks and hardware of Aligarh district.

7.The section will also decongest the existing Kanpur-Delhi mainline and will enable the Indian Railways to run faster trains.

8.PM also inaugurated the EDFC’s operation centre at Prayagraj and flagged off the first 1.5 km long goods trains. A state-of-the-art Operation Control Centre at Prayagraj will act as the command centre for the entire route length of the EDFC.  This 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’.

9.Railway Ministry invested in rail tracks, ended unmanned crossings, focussed on broadening and electrification of the network.

10.Railways should gear up to ensure all last mile connectivity as it speeds up the problem progress of DFCs in the country.

11.The formation of dedicated management teams have been suggested, led by a senior official for each project of Railways, for day to day effective monitoring and resolution of the project issues.

12.Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India is constructing the Western DFC (1504 Route km) and Eastern DFC (1856 route km including Sonnagar-Dankuni PPP Section).