4 lakh trucks to go off roads after freight corridor is operational

NEW DELHI: With work on dedicated freight corridor going on in full swing, the Eastern Corridor of the project is getting ready to start its operations from August 2018. The start of first patch -- Khurja to Kanpur -- of the corridor will send about 4 lakh trucks off the road, making a huge impact on freight rates.

According to Adesh Sharma, managing director of Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation Limited (DFCCL), the beginning of freight corridor operations will help in reducing the prices of commodities too as the DFCCL would provide a guaranteed delivery of the freights.

In another major step, the DFCCL would introduce freight trains sans guards as the wagons would be fitted with sensors. End to Train Telemetry (EOTT) is a device which makes it possible to monitor the driver’s cabin of the loco and the brake pipe pressure in the last vehicle of the train, Sharma said.

Doing away with the deployment of guards in freight trains, the corridor will equip the rear end of a wagon with this modern electronic system at an estimated cost of Rs 5 lakh. The driver will monitor the train movement through EOTT device and there will be no need of guards, Sharma said.

“If we fail to deliver the booked cargo within the stipulated time, the DFCCL will pay the penalty. Given that the average speed of the wagons would remain at about 100 km/ hour, the perishable commodities would also be transported through rail goods carrier, which is not a possibility in existing conventional wagons,” Sharma said, adding that the operational cost of dedicated freight corridor would be in the range of 40-45 per cent in comparison to Indian Railways.

Stressing that it would prove to be a game changer in the freight transportation sector after it becomes fully operational, the Rs 81,459-crore DFC project will also be free from all level crossings, a major safety hazard in rail network.

Contracts worth Rs 18,000 crore were awarded during 2016 for the DFC proj- ect, Sharma said, adding that 100 per cent contracts in the 1,504-km-long Western DFC have been awarded while 87 per cent conracts were awarded for the 1,840-km-long Eastern DFC. Ensuring unhindered movement of freight trains, Sharma said, “A total of 1,003 level crossings will be eliminated which will help seamless movement of both rail and road traffic.”

There will be construction of 689 rail under bridges and 314 rail over bridges on cost sharing basis with states on the DFC track to make the entire track free from level crossings.