DFCCIL conducts successful test runs on 343 km stretch of EDFC

New Delhi, India (Urban Transport News): In a landmark moment, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) conducted successful trial runs of two fully-loaded freight trains on the Bhaupur – Khurja section of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) on 11 December 2020.

The trains were remotely flagged-off from both Khurja and Bhaupur by DFCCIL outgoing MD R.N. Singh along with newly appointed MD DFCCIL Ravindra Kumar Jain in presence of Alain Spohr, MD Alstom India & South Asia and other Directors of DFCCIL. The train attained a peak speed of 100 kmph on this 343 km stretch, which is the only fully functional DFC in the country and has been executed by Alstom.

Commenting on this milestone, Alain SPOHR, Managing Director, India & South Asia, Alstom said:

Congratulations to DFCCIL and kudos to our team at Alstom for doing a stellar job on this only electrified section of DFC. Alstom is proud to have introduced several ‘firsts’ in India to ensure speedy execution on this project. This is also a good reference to Alstom’s commitment to Make-in-India. The complete design and engineering for OHE Electrification, Civil, Power Supply, Signalling has been done indigenously. This begins a new era of freight rail revolution that all stakeholders envisioned jointly.

In 2015, Alstom won the contract worth over €200 million to provide the electrification, signalling and telecommunications system for the 343-kilometre-long eastern portion of the Dedicated Freight Corridor.

As part of the contract, Alstom has also supplied state of the art Signalling System, Telecom System, construction of Traction Sub Stations, station buildings and other civil works and has constructed one of the world’s largest Operations Control Centre (OCC), at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh monitoring operations on the entire eastern stretch of DFC.