Question: consider the following statements :
a) Dedicated freight corridors are purposefully built for the movements of freight trains.
b) It will ease up the pressure on existing rail network and also speed up the transportation of cargo.
c) The 1,856 km long EDFC starts from Sahnewal near the city of Ludhiana in the state of Punjab and passes through the states of UP, Bihar, Haryana and Jharkhand.
d) EDFC has its control and command centre at Prayagraj .
which of the above are correct?
i) a,b,c
ii) b,c,d
iii) a,b,d
iv ) a,b,c,d
Answer: iii
Context
- PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated the ‘New Bhaupur-New Khurja’ section of Indian Railways’ Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor and its command centre at Prayagraj on 29 December 2020 through video conferencing.
Facts
About the Eastern Corridor
- Length : 1856 km
- Starts from Sahnewal near Ludhiana (Punjab) and will pass through the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand and will terminate at Dankuni in West Bengal.
- Construction by: Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL)
- DFCCIL is dedicated special purpose vehicle set up by government for the purpose of constructing Freight corridors.
- Operation control centre of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor is set up at Prayagraj.
- 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 EDFC section of New Bhaupur-New Khurja will benefit local industries like the aluminium industry in Pukhrayan region of Kanpur Dehat, glassware industry of Firozabad, asafoetida production of Hathras, textile production and block printing of Etawah, dairy sector of Auraiya, pottery products of Khurja, as well as locks and hardware of Aligarh district.
Need of the DFCs
- Covering a total of 10,122 km, these corridors carry the heaviest traffic and are highly congested. The route carries 52% of passenger traffic and 58% of freight traffic, according to the Make-in-India report of 2017.
- Considering increased transport demands, overtly congested routes and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with road transport, these freight corridors will help reduce the cost and allow faster transportation.
- Logistics parks and industrial corridors will be built along these routes and thus generating revenues and new jobs.
DFCCIL is also constructing the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (1504 route km) that connects Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai and will traverse through the states of UP, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
By – Kameshwar Shukla
Reference: https://www.financialexpress.com/infrastructure/railways/dedicated-freight-corridor-pm-modi-to-inaugurate-indian-railways-new-bhaupur-new-khurja-section-on-edfc/2158887/
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1683983