PM To Flag Off Commercial Operation Of 306 Km In Western DFC

After inaugurating the 351-km section in the Eastern DFC last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to flag off the commercial operation of goods service in the 306-km long section between Rewari and Madar in the Western DFC on January 7.

The section to be inaugurated on Thursday comprises 79 km in Mahendragarh and Rewari districts of Haryana and approximately 227 km in Rajasthan.

There are nine newly built stations in this section. The WDFC is meant for double stack container operation.

According to a senior railway official, the Western corridor would be used for long-haul double stack container operations to carry four times more goods as compared to the current traffic in the section.

The launch of commercial operation of goods trains on the Rewari (in Haryana) and Madar (near Ajmer) section in Western Dedicated Freight Corridor would benefit various industries in Rewari — Manesar, Narnaul, Phulera and Kishangarh regions of Haryana and Rajasthan.

In addition to this, the container depot of CONCOR at Kathwas will also come on the DFC map and get advantage in terms of faster throughput.

Freight trains are expected to run at a maximum speed of 100 kmph on this track. Earlier, the DFCCIL had successfully run trains with wagons at 110 kmph on this stretch. The wagons to be used on this route have a 14 per cent more weight carrying capacity than the wagons being currently used on Indian Railways.

“The DFC infrastructure is expected to maximise the carrying capacity of these wagons. Currently, Indian Railways freight trains can carry 61-71 tonnes weight per freight carriage at an approximate speed of 60 kmph. The newer, advanced wagons can carry weights up to 81 tonnes per wagon at an approximate speed of 100 kmph. The newer wagons are safer and modern too,” said an official.

While reviewing the progress of the upcoming DFC recently, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has asked the officials to continue to engage and coordinate with all the stakeholders in ensuring that remaining sections of land acquisitions are also completed at the earliest.

The Minister also suggested the formation of dedicated management teams, led by a senior official for each project of Railways, for day-to-day effective monitoring and resolution of the project issues.

DFCC has been set up as a special purpose vehicle to undertake planning, development, mobilisation of financial resources, construction, maintenance and operation of Dedicated Freight Corridors.

In the first phase, the organisation is constructing the Western DFC (1,504 route km) and Eastern DFC (1856 km route 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 DFC connecting Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai will traverse through the states of UP, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Western DFC and Eastern DFC excluding the Sonnagar – Dankuni PPP section are slated to be commissioned by June 2022.

The Indian Railways is the lifeline of the nation. To make India a five trillion dollar economy, it is essential to develop transport networks at the same pace.

Development of transport infrastructure will give a major fillip for the growth of industries, commerce, export and imports.