PM slams previous govts for delaying Dedicated Freight Corridor project

• The DFC project has received a nod in 2006 but only on paper as the then government lacked the seriousness and urgency with which it had to take it up with the states, said Modi

• The Prime Minister said with dedicated freight corridors problems of delayed passenger trains would be resolved

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the previous governments for delaying the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project of the Railways, saying that the previous regimes were focussed on increasing the number of trains instead of investing in improving the infrastructure. The DFC project has received a nod in 2006 but only on paper as the then government lacked the seriousness and urgency with which it had to take it up with the states, said Modi while inaugurating the New Bhaupur-New Khurja section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor via video conferencing on Tuesday.

The PM inaugurated the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor's (EDFC) operation centre at Prayagraj and flagged off the first 1.5-km-long goods trains. "These freight corridors will play a major role in making India self-reliant. Be it traders, farmers or consumers, everyone will be benefitted from these," said Modi.

'Modern connectivity priority for India'

Asserting that modern rail infrastructure projects are getting implemented on the ground, the PM said, "We are seeing today, the biggest and modern railway infrastructure project after independence on the ground. Today, when the first goods train ran on the Khurja-Bhaupur freight corridor route, we heard the buzz and roar of the new and self-reliant India." He said Prayagraj Operation Control center is one of the modern control centers and a symbol of the new strength of new India.

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

Freight corridors will enhance speed of movement of goods: PM

Stressing on the need for these dedicated freight corridors, the Prime Minister said that as the population has grown, the demand on freight has increased manifold. He said since both passenger trains and goods trains ply on the same track, the speed of the goods train is slow. When the speed of the goods train is slow, and there is interruption in place, obviously the cost of transportation will be high. He added that being expensive, our products lose to the competition in domestic markets as well as abroad. He said the Dedicated Freight Corridor was planned to change this situation. "Initially, two Dedicated Freight Corridors were planned. Eastern dedicated Freight corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni. This route has coal mines, thermal power plants and industrial cities. Feeder routes are also being made for these. The other is the 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. The Industrial corridor of Delhi-Mumbai and Amritsar-Kolkata are being developed around both these Freight Corridors. Similarly, North to South, and East to West Corridors, are also being planned," said the PM.

'DFC resolves problem of delayed passenger trains'

The Prime Minister said with such dedicated freight corridors problems of delayed passenger trains would be resolved. 

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Modi added that the Dedicated Freight Corridor would benefit everyone, including industry, businessmen, farmers and consumers. He said the freight corridor will give a boost to eastern India, which had been left behind industrially, as about 60 percent of the corridor falls in UP. It would attract lots of industries towards UP. He added that Kisan Rail would allow farmers to send their produce through rail to any big market across the country through the dedicated freight corridor at low price.

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