Indian Railways freight train has yet again hit a new record in terms of speed. The Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) has run a freight service with 50 wagons at a maximum speed of 100 kilometres per hour on the newly-built New Palanpur-Madar section of the Western Corridor.
Carrying 3,900 tonnes of high-speed diesel, the goods train was scheduled from Rajkot in Gujarat to Bawal in Haryana in a trial run which was carried out successfully.
“First, we tried a locomotive run followed by a fully-loaded goods train running at a maximum speed of 100 km per hour”, said a senior Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) official involved in the operation.
New Palanpur-Madar section is constructed at an estimated cost of INR 7,020 crore barring land purchase and is 352.7 km long consisting of 98 major bridges and viaduct, 531 minor bridges, two rail flyovers, 14 roads over bridges of which four have been completed, and 10 under construction and 136 roads under bridges.
The section falls in Rajasthan for approximately 333 km in Sirohi, Pali, and Ajmer districts while the 19 km long track is in the Banas Kantha district of Haryana.
The opening of this stretch will benefit various industries in Swaroopganj, Banas, Keshavganj, Bangurgram, Beawar, Kishangarh, Phulera, Rewari, Manesar, and Narnaul areas of Rajasthan and Haryana.
There are 12 newly-built DFC stations in the section of which nine are crossing stations — New Shri Amirgarh, New Swarupganj, New Banas, New Keshavganj, New Biroliya, New Jawali, New Chandawal, New Haripur, and New Saradhana.
Also, the section has three junctions at New Palanpur, New Marwar, and New Bangurgram.
To conserve water, all DFC stations and Roads-under-bridges (RUBs) will have rainwater harvesting systems to preserve groundwater resources.
Currently, operational in the US, Canada, Brazil, Australia, China, Russia, South Africa, and Sweden, and Norway, the DFC is expected to witness heavy haul train operation with a 32.5-tonne axle load, a first in India.
The entire stretch of the DFC will be equipped with a train protection and warning system for the safe and efficient operation of freight trains.
