The recently developed “Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC)” by the Indian Railways provides faster movement of freight across the Country. The Indian Army on Monday (14 June 2021), conducted a successful trial by moving a military train loaded with vehicles and equipment from New Rewari to New Phulera validating the efficacy of the DFC.
- The intricate and synchronised coordination by the Indian Army with Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) and Indian Railways will significantly enhance the mobilisation capability of the Armed Forces.
- These trials were part of the “Whole of the Nation Approach” for optimising national resources and achieve seamless synergy among various ministries and departments.
- Interactions by the Indian Army with all stakeholders including DFCCIL & Indian Railways will now assist in leveraging the DFC and allied infrastructure into the mobilisation matrix of Armed Forces.
- Development of infrastructure at certain locations to support mobilisation and trials to validate move of defence owned rolling stock on Roll On-Roll Off (RO-RO) service is being formalised and modalities are being evolved.
- These trials herald the first step in this process to pave the way for enhancing the operational readiness of Armed Forces.
- This initiative would set in place processes to ensure that military requirements are dovetailed in the national infrastructure development at the planning stage itself.
About Dedicated Freight Corridors:
- DFCCIL has been set up as a special purpose vehicle to undertake planning, development, mobilization of financial resources, construction, maintenance and operation of Dedicated Freight Corridors.
- In the first phase, the organisation is constructing the Western DFC (1506 Route km) and Eastern DFC (1875 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 & EDFC.
Project Achievements:
- WDFC’s 306 km Rewari -Madar section was dedicated to the nation on 07.01.2021.
- Trial run of 369 km of WDFC between New Palanpur to New Kishangarh has been done.
- EDFC’s 351 km New Bhaupur-New Khurja section and the Operation Control Centre at Prayagraj were dedicated to the nation by the Hon’ble PM on 29.12.2020.
- A total of approx. 2800 route Km of the whole WDFC and EDFC (excluding the Sonnagar–Dankuni PPP section) will be commissioned by June 2022.
Main objectives:
- Decongest the existing Indian Railway network.
- Increase the average speed of goods trains from existing 25 to 70 kmph.
- Run Heavy Haul trains (higher axle load of 25/32.5 Tonne) & overall load of 13,000 Tonne.
- Facilitate the running of longer (1.5km) and double stack container trains.
- Connect the existing ports and industrial areas for faster movement of goods.
- Energy efficient and environment friendly rail transport system as per global standards.
- Increase the rail share from existing 30% to 45%.8 Reduce the logistic cost of transportation
Innovations and State-of-the-art Technology:
- Heavy and long Haul train operation of 25 Axle ton with provision of 32.5 Ton axle load for the First time in India.
- Double stack containers in Western DFC
- Double line electric (2 X 25 KV) track to undertake higher haulage at higher speeds
- Automated New Track Construction (NTC) machine which can lay track at the speed of 1.5 km per day.
- Automated Wiring train for Overhead Equipment Work (OHE) capable of wiring upto 3 km per shift.
- Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) for safe and efficient operation
- Elimination of road level crossing
- Developing Multi Modal Logistic Hubs and integration with Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor & Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial corridor.
Source: PIB-Press Release
