Sachin-Makarpura DFC stretch ready for freight operations, to ease traffic on Mumbai-Delhi Train route

VADODARA : Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) announced the successful completion of the last milestone, marking the commencement of a new era in freight transportation between Sachin near Surat and Makarpura near Vadodara.

“The Vadodara unit of DFCCIL successfully concluded the diesel engine trial on the Uttar Pradesh route, covering 27 km between New Gothangam to New Bhestan on Wednesday (22 November). With this trial, the final step connecting Sachin and Makarpura is now accomplished,” DFCCIL officials stated.

“With a continuous 242 km of dedicated freight corridor (DFC) track between Makarpura and Gholvad, the way is now clear for the smooth operation of freight trains in this section,” said a DFCCIL official from Vadodara.

The 27 km section from New Gothangam to New Bhestan has been made level crossing-free.

“To complete work on this segment, 50 lakh cubic metres of earthwork, a crucial bridge over the Tapi river, 11 major bridges, 64 minor bridges, and two railway flyovers were completed at a cost of nearly Rs 900 crore,” he added.

Officials highlighted the challenges in executing the work in a densely populated area of Surat district.

“Managing an average embankment height of 10 metres, steel girders weighing about 8,000 tonnes, and the necessity to work only at night to avoid disrupting busy road traffic, the successful launching of heavy steel girders with all safety parameters was a highly challenging task,” officials noted.

The construction of the 722-metre-long crucial steel bridge over the Tapi River on a solid foundation was also a formidable task, according to officials.

Regular freight train operations on this Western Dedicated Freight Corridor route are set to commence soon.

This development is expected to significantly alleviate the burden on the existing busy main line of the Mumbai-Delhi route.

Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC)

The WDFC, connecting Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai, passes through five states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The western corridor covers a distance of 1,504 km through double line electric (2 x 25 KV) track from JNPT to Dadri via Vadodara-Ahmedabad-Palanpur-Phulera-Rewari. The Western DFC is proposed to join the Eastern DFC at Dadri.

Western DFC would mainly cover Rajasthan (565 km), Maharashtra (177 km), Gujarat (565 km) Haryana (177 km) and about 18 km in Uttar Pradesh.

Alignment has been generally kept parallel to existing lines, except provision of detour at Diva, Surat, Ankleshwar, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Phulera and Rewari. However, it is entirely on a new alignment from Rewari to Dadri.