Ahmedabad: The operations control centre of the 1,506 km-long Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) that Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated today is a first-of-its-kind initiative in India to monitor and regulate train operations from one centralised location.

Watch | Prime Minister Narendra Modi at DFC’s Operation Control Centre in Ahmedabad.

He will shortly flag off 10 new Vande Bharat trains connecting Ahmedabad-Mumbai Central, Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam, Mysuru-Dr MGR Central (Chennai), Patna-Lucknow, New Jalpaiguri-Patna,… pic.twitter.com/isI9Y5Tuto

— DeshGujarat (@DeshGujarat) March 12, 2024

Built at a cost of Rs 280 crore in Ahmedabad, the operations control centre (OCC) houses the latest train controlling and monitoring mechanism, which can track the movements of all freight trains along the route starting from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to JNPT in Gujarat. This control room is the nerve centre and from here everything can be tracked in real time.

#WATCH | Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Ahmedabad says, “PM Modi today inaugurated a world-class Operation Control Centre in Ahmedabad. Every element of railway operation is controlled from this center. Railways will become a big force in making India self-reliant. In the… pic.twitter.com/fmrnjN6BJM

— ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2024

The Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) is operational from Dadri to Sanand in Gujarat. Around 200 freight trains operate every day at an average speed of about 60 km, according to DFC officials. The WDFC is operational from Dadri to Sanand (N) and the section between Sanand and New Makarpura is underway. The last section from New Gholvad to JNPT is also under progress. Sanand (N) and New Makarpura will be ready within a month, paving the way for direct train operations from Dadri to Gholvad.

Train controllers sitting here can see the positions of trains anywhere along the route and issue instructions accordingly. Track conditions, signal faults, overhead wires issues and the efficiency of the loco pilot everything can be reviewed in real-time and corrective measures. A similar OCC has also been built for the 1,337 km-long Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor.

The eastern and western DFCs have transformed the freight train operations in India as they are made for freight operations only. It is for the first time in India that freight trains are running here as fast as premier passenger trains such as Rajdhani and Vande Bharat. Freight trains achieve an average speed of around 22 km per hour on passenger train routes as passenger trains are given priority.

The prime minister also inaugurated the 401-km new Khurja Junction-Sanehwal section of the EDFC and the 224-km new Makarpura Junction-Gholvad section of the WDFC.

Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) on its Twitter handle shared pictures of the operation control center of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor(WDFC) last year and stated that the Operation Control Centre, Ahmedabad, was operationalized in March 2023. It’ll control WDFC’s train operations, signaling, and power supply and monitor the health of rolling stock & track safety. It’s equipped with advanced technologies & new applications for train operations. DFCCIL in another tweet also informed that the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) operations for the WDFC have been successfully migrated to Operation Control Centre (OCC), Ahmedabad from DFC New Shrimadhopur station. Now all the Traction Power Controller (TPC) Operations will be done from the OCC(Ahmedabad).