175-km stretch of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor gets operational
Nitish Sharma
Ambala, January 20
The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor has started the commercial operations on the completed 175.1 km Sahnewal -Pilkhani section under the Ambala unit. As per the information, at present 20-25 goods trains are being operated daily and the number of trains are expected to touch 50 over the next few days.
While the operations are being carried out in 24-hour shifts between Sahnewal-Shambhu section in Punjab (covering 81.6 km), due to shortage of station masters, the operations between Shambhu to Pilkhani (Shambhu to Kalanaur in Haryana, covering 76.7 km and then Kalanaur to Pilkhani in Uttar Pradesh, covering 16.8-km) is being carried out in a 12-hour shift.
An official working in the Ambala unit of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) said that, “A total of 14 new stations were built and as per the standards, there is a requirement for 88 station masters, but so far only 37 have joined. Training of a few stations masters is still on and they are likely to join soon.”
As per information, to start the commercial run on the full section, a goods train carrying 58 wagons loaded with coal ran on the tracks on Tuesday. The section is expected to be inaugurated soon by the Prime Minister along with some other projects.
According to the official, “The commercial operations have been started on the full section and the average speed was recorded to be 42 kmph, while on the main line of the Northern Railway, the average speed used to be 25-30 kmph. Since the initial runs are being carried out with caution, the average speed was 42 kmph. The restrictions will be lifted in the coming days and the average speed will go over 60 kmph, and can even touch 70 kmph. The tracks are designed for the top speed of 100 kmph.”
Pankaj Gupta, Chief General Manager, Ambala unit of DFCCIL, said that, “The section is fully operational now and soon the safety team of the Railways will visit the section. We are expecting more station masters to join their duties and the 24-hour operations will begin by the first week of February. The operations on the freight corridor will not only bring the logistics cost and carbon emission down, but will also allow the Railways to increase the train traffic for passenger trains on the main line.”
