Freight trains have clocked a top speed of 90 kmph on the newly inaugurated Khurja- New Bhaupur section of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor in a first, the ministry of railways said on Monday.
The 351-km section was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month.
At present, goods trains run at an average speed of around 25 kmph clocking maximum speed of 60 to 75 kmph.
¨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. Faster speeds would result in faster delivery of goods and faster turnaround reducing freight costs.”
“Till January 3, a total of 53 trains were operated out of which 32 trains between New Khurja – New Bhaupur (Down Direction) ran at the highest total speed of 83.70 kph. In the Up direction between New Bhaupur – New Khurja , 21 trains were operated at a maximum speed of 85.98 kmph,¨ the statement said.
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 and fertilizer, steel, coal loadable empty wagons are moving towards Eastern India, the ministry said.
¨It is a small stretch, but on this, the freight trains will run at a faster speed than the Rajdhani train as this is one of the most congested stretches of IR,” the statement said.
In the first phase, DFCCIL 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 & EDFC (excluding the Sonnagar – Dankuni PPP section) i.e. 2800 route Km will be commissioned by June 2022.
Source : Hindustan Times
