New Delhi, Jan 5: In a game changing development, freight trains have started to attain top speeds of above 90 kmph on newly inaugurated New Khurja- New Bhaupur section of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor.
According to railways, faster speeds would result in faster delivery of goods and faster turnaround reducing freight costs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the 351 Km New Khurja- New Bhaupur section of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor on December 29 last year. Meeting the objectives, the new section is witnessing seamless transportation of major freight commodities at a speed above 90 kmph on this newly inaugurated section.
So far, 53 freight trains have been operated on this new section till January 3 this year.
According to the DFC data, while maximum speed of 93.70 kmph was achieved between New Khurja – New Bhaupur section fr 32 freight trains, 85.98 kmph speed was recorded in the New Bhaupur – New Khurja section for 21 goods trains.
After the commissioning of this new section, coal, jute, petroleum, container, iron and steel and other minerals are primary commodities moving towards NCR and Punjab and Haryana area whereas rice, wheat and food grain products from Punjab and Haryana area, fertilizer, steel, coal loadable empty wagons etc are moving towards eastern India.
In the first phase, DFCC is constructing the Western DFC (1504 Route km) and Eastern DFC (1856 route km including PPP section of Sonnagar-Dankuni Section.
The EDFC starting from Sahnewal near Ludhiana (Punjab) will pass through the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand to terminate at Dankuni in West Bengal.
The Western Corridor connecting Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai will traverse through the states of UP, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra of WDFC and EDFC (excluding the Sonnagar – Dankuni PPP section) for 2800 route Km will be commissioned by June 2022.
Meanwhile Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has reviewed the progress of various sections under completion in DFC on both East and West corridors.
The Minister said that no stone should be left unturned in ensuring that the completed project is handed over to the nation by June 2022.
When apprised about the challenges being faced by the Railways in getting work completed in certain sections ahead of the schedule, the Minister said that everything would be done to bring all stakeholders on board to ensure that work is completed in sync with the June 2022 deadline to complete the project.
Indian Railways is making dedicated freight corridors to provide exclusive movement on fast speeds for goods trains.