PM Inaugurates New Bhaupur- New Khurja Section and Operation Control Centre of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor

LUCKNOW: PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the New Bhaupur-New Khurja section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor in Uttar Pradesh via video conferencing on Tuesday, 29th December.

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

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

According to officials, the 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 ‘hing’ production of Hathras, and locks and hardware of Aligarh district.

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

Text of the Prime Minister’s Speech during Inauguration

Today is the day to give a new identity of the 21st century to the glorious past of Indian Railways, increasing the strength of India and Indian Railways. Today, we are looking at the biggest and modern railway infrastructure project after independence.

Today, when the first freight train ran on the Freight Corridor route on Khurja-Bhau, it heard the echo and roar of the new India, the self-reliant India. Operation Control Center in Prayagraj is also a symbol of the new strength of the new India. It is one of the finest and modern control centers in the world. And anyone would be proud to hear that the technology related to management and data is prepared in India, it has been prepared by Indians only.

Infrastructure is the largest source of power of any nation. Connectivity in infrastructure is also the nerves of the nation, there are nadis. The better these veins are, the healthier and stronger a nation is. Today, when India is moving fast towards the path of becoming a major economic power of the world, then the best connectivity is the priority of the country. With this thinking, every aspect of modern connectivity in India is being worked on with focus. Be it highway, railway, airway, waterway or Iway – these five wheels are being given strength, speed is required for economic speed. Inauguration of a large section of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor is also a big step in this direction.

These Dedicated Freight Corridors, if they are called colloquially, are special tracks made for goods trains, special arrangements. Why did the country need them? Whether we have farms, industries or markets, these all depend on freight. Somewhere a crop grows, it has to be transported to different parts of the country. Ports have to be transported for export. Similarly, raw material for industries comes from the sea. The goods made from the industry have to be transported to the market or it has to be transported to the ports again for export. Railways have always been the biggest medium in this work. As the population grew, the economy grew, so the pressure on this network of freight also increased. The problem was, That we have both trains and goods trains running on the same track. The speed of the goods train is slow. In such a situation, passenger trains are stopped at stations to give way to goods trains. Due to this, the passenger train also does not reach on time and the goods train also gets late. When the speed of the goods train will be slow, there will be intermittent, then obviously the cost of transportation will be high. This directly affects the cost of our farming, mineral products and industrial products. Being expensive, they do not survive in the competition in the markets of the country and abroad, they lose. The cost of mineral products and industrial products falls. Being expensive, they do not survive in the competition in the markets of the country and abroad, they lose. The cost of mineral products and industrial products falls. Being expensive, they do not survive in the competition in the markets of the country and abroad, they lose.

The freight corridor was planned to change this situation. It is initially planned to produce 2 Dedicated Freight Corridor. The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor is connecting the industrial city of Punjab with the Dankuni in West Bengal. This route, hundreds of kilometers long, has coal mines, thermal power plants, industrial cities. Feeder routes are also being made for these. The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor connects JNPT in Maharashtra to Dadri in Uttar Pradesh. This corridor of about 1500 km will have feeder routes to major ports of Mundra, Kandla, Pipavav, Dahej and Hazira in Gujarat. Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor are also being developed around these two Freight Corridors. Similarly, necessary procedures related to such special rail corridors connecting North to South and East to West are being completed.

One of the special facilities made for goods trains will reduce the problem of passenger trains in India. Secondly, this will also increase the speed of the goods train by more than 3 times and the goods trains will be able to carry goods up to double than before. Because on these tracks, double freighters, such as coaches above the coaches, such goods trains can be run. Our logistics network will be cheaper when the goods arrive on time. Due to the low cost of delivering our goods, our goods will be cheaper, which will benefit our exports. Not only this, a better environment will be created for the industry in the country, Ease of Doing business will grow, India will become more attractive for investment. Many new employment opportunities and self-employment opportunities will also be created in the country.

These Freight Corridors will become the medium of large self-sufficient India. Be it industry, trade, business, farmer or consumer, everyone is going to get their benefits. Be a textile manufacturer from Ludhiana and Varanasi, or a farmer from Ferozepur, a lock manufacturer from Aligarh, or a marble merchant from Rajasthan, a mango producer from Malihabad, or a leather industry from Kanpur and Agra, a carpet industry from Bhadohi, or a car from Faridabad. The industry has brought this opportunity for everyone. Especially, this Freight Corridor is going to give new energy to industrially lagging eastern India. About 60 percent of it is in UP, so every small and big industry in UP will benefit from it. The kind of attraction that has arisen in the last few years in the industries of the country and abroad will increase more.

This Dedicated Freight Corridor is also going to benefit Kisan Rail. The hundredth Kisan Rail has been started in the country only yesterday. Farmer rail has made it possible to deliver agricultural produce safely and at low prices to large markets across the country. Now, in the new freight corridor, Kisan Rail will reach its destination even faster. In Uttar Pradesh too, many stations have been connected by farmer rail and these are being increased continuously. The capacity of storage and cold storage near the railway stations of Uttar Pradesh is also being increased. UP’s 45 consignment warehouses are equipped with modern facilities. Apart from this, 8 new Goods Sheds have also been built in the state. At the same time, two big Perishable Cargo centers in Varanasi and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh are already serving the farmers. In these, farmers can store their perishable produce like fruits and vegetables at very low rates.

When the country is benefiting so much from this type of infrastructure, the question also arises as to why it was delayed so much? This project is a living proof of the work culture of the government which was before 2014. In 2006, this project was approved. After that it remained only in papers and files. The seriousness that the Center should have negotiated with the states, the Urgency that should have been communicated, was not done. As a result, the work got stuck, hanged, went astray. The situation was that till 2014, not even a kilometer track could be laid. The money which was also approved for this could not be spent properly.