Necessity is the mother of invention, and this could well apply to the Indian Railways. With its existing tracks having become choked with hundreds of new passenger trains introduced by successive ministers over the last couple of decades, it has now been forced to opt for a set of corridors totally dedicated to carry the burgeoning freight traffic. In the process, it would also enter the exclusive club of heavy-haul rail carriers.
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) created a year ago for fashioning this dream into reality has at last got its act together. Based on the Japanese International Cooperation Agency's final report submitted to the railway ministry in October 2007, and the earlier Rail India Techno-Economic Services (Rites) reports, tenders have been invited from reputed consultants to prepare a business plan for the proposed 1,230-km Ludhiana-Son Nagar eastern corridor, and 1,470-km route from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust near Mumbai to Dadri.
After bid evaluation by Crisil, DFCC is set to appoint a consultant by the first week of April, and hopefully get a clear idea of the shape of things to come, including the vital task of financing the Rs 60,000-crore project.
Planned on a format of double-line alignments, freight corridor's eastern leg is expected to be electrified, while the western section would be run by diesel traction to enable it to carry double and even triple stack ISO containers, unhindered by the overhead constraints imposed by electric wires. A number of feeder routes, about 11 for the western section totaling 2,092 km and 15 for the eastern corridor along a route of 2,587 km, will ensure extensive coverage of the hinterland, reducing road haulage to a bare minimum.
With the substructure, bridges and track capable of carrying 32.5-tonne axle loads, and a 12-tonne per metre trailing load of 15,000-tonne trains, DFCC would enter the big league of heavy haul routes, presently dominated by the US, Canada, Australia and China. Bigger wagons and consignments would be enabled, giving India's rail freight capacity a quantum boost. Technically speaking, a "ruling gradient" of 1-in-200, with curvatures limited to 2.5 degrees (700 metre radius), would enable speeds of 100 kmph, heralding 21st century operations.
Given the dedication to freight traffic, the stations enroute will be located at distances of over 50 km, with junctions every 300-400 km. Industrial dispersion will now be much easier to attain. The western corridor already has the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor coming up, a 300-km wide swathe all along DFCC's Delhi-Mumbai route.
Understandably, there would be major differences in approach for the provision of rolling stock, locomotives and so on. For, while the eastern sector is meant to carry predominantly coal from the collieries in Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand to a string of power plants in Punjab and Haryana, the western sector will enable speedy and economical transport of containers from Punjab, Haryana and a slew of new facilities slated to come up in the proposed Delhi-Mumbai industrial expanse.
While the western route starts from Dadri and reaches Mumbai's JNPT via Pirthala, Rewari, Phulera, Ajmer, Marwar, Palanpur, Mehsana, Sabarmati, Makarpura, Gothegaon and Vasai Road, the shorter eastern route from Dhandarikalan, in Punjab, will reach Sone Nagar via Sirhind, Rajpura, Kalanaur, Dadri, Khurja, Daudkhan, Tundla, Khaupur, Prempur, Chheoki, Jeonathpur, Mughalsarai, and Ganjkhwaja.
Thanks to the far-sighted policies of those responsible for India's vast railway network built more than a century ago, there is enough land in most places all along the present alignment to lay another set of double-line tracks. However, given the problems of procuring land for junction yards in the rapidly developing urban and even some rural areas, DFCC still has several hurdles in its path.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/financialexpress/20080225/r_t_fe_bs_budget08/tbs-joining-the-heavy-haul-club-7435665.html
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) created a year ago for fashioning this dream into reality has at last got its act together. Based on the Japanese International Cooperation Agency's final report submitted to the railway ministry in October 2007, and the earlier Rail India Techno-Economic Services (Rites) reports, tenders have been invited from reputed consultants to prepare a business plan for the proposed 1,230-km Ludhiana-Son Nagar eastern corridor, and 1,470-km route from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust near Mumbai to Dadri.
After bid evaluation by Crisil, DFCC is set to appoint a consultant by the first week of April, and hopefully get a clear idea of the shape of things to come, including the vital task of financing the Rs 60,000-crore project.
Planned on a format of double-line alignments, freight corridor's eastern leg is expected to be electrified, while the western section would be run by diesel traction to enable it to carry double and even triple stack ISO containers, unhindered by the overhead constraints imposed by electric wires. A number of feeder routes, about 11 for the western section totaling 2,092 km and 15 for the eastern corridor along a route of 2,587 km, will ensure extensive coverage of the hinterland, reducing road haulage to a bare minimum.
With the substructure, bridges and track capable of carrying 32.5-tonne axle loads, and a 12-tonne per metre trailing load of 15,000-tonne trains, DFCC would enter the big league of heavy haul routes, presently dominated by the US, Canada, Australia and China. Bigger wagons and consignments would be enabled, giving India's rail freight capacity a quantum boost. Technically speaking, a "ruling gradient" of 1-in-200, with curvatures limited to 2.5 degrees (700 metre radius), would enable speeds of 100 kmph, heralding 21st century operations.
Given the dedication to freight traffic, the stations enroute will be located at distances of over 50 km, with junctions every 300-400 km. Industrial dispersion will now be much easier to attain. The western corridor already has the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor coming up, a 300-km wide swathe all along DFCC's Delhi-Mumbai route.
Understandably, there would be major differences in approach for the provision of rolling stock, locomotives and so on. For, while the eastern sector is meant to carry predominantly coal from the collieries in Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand to a string of power plants in Punjab and Haryana, the western sector will enable speedy and economical transport of containers from Punjab, Haryana and a slew of new facilities slated to come up in the proposed Delhi-Mumbai industrial expanse.
While the western route starts from Dadri and reaches Mumbai's JNPT via Pirthala, Rewari, Phulera, Ajmer, Marwar, Palanpur, Mehsana, Sabarmati, Makarpura, Gothegaon and Vasai Road, the shorter eastern route from Dhandarikalan, in Punjab, will reach Sone Nagar via Sirhind, Rajpura, Kalanaur, Dadri, Khurja, Daudkhan, Tundla, Khaupur, Prempur, Chheoki, Jeonathpur, Mughalsarai, and Ganjkhwaja.
Thanks to the far-sighted policies of those responsible for India's vast railway network built more than a century ago, there is enough land in most places all along the present alignment to lay another set of double-line tracks. However, given the problems of procuring land for junction yards in the rapidly developing urban and even some rural areas, DFCC still has several hurdles in its path.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/financialexpress/20080225/r_t_fe_bs_budget08/tbs-joining-the-heavy-haul-club-7435665.html
