Team Blitz India
MUMBAI: Travellers heading to Delhi and Mumbai can enjoy faster train journeys as the Gujarat section of the ambitious Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) is scheduled for completion by the end of the current fiscal year.
Of the total 565 km within Gujarat, only a 170-km stretch remains pending. Designed exclusively for freight transportation, the corridor will alleviate congestion on the existing Indian Railways (IR) network by opening the pathway for smooth movement of goods trains.
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) has accomplished 1,279 km of the total 1,506 km long WDFC stretch, which will link the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT) in Mumbai to Dadri.
With DFCCIL aiming to complete an approximately 30-km stretch from Gothangam to Bhesthan next month, it envisions connecting Makarpura to Gholvad in Maharashtra within the current calendar year.
DFCCIL has confirmed the completion of the trial run of goods trains on the newly constructed railway electrified section connecting Gothangam to Makarpura. This Railway section, with an estimated cost of around Rs. 3,644 crore, spans 117 km through the Gujarat districts of Surat, Bharuch, and Vadodara.
As operations begin, offloading of goods trains will commence from Gothangam, and commodities will be handed over to IR Makarpura. Besides enhancing freight connectivity, there will be improvement in passenger train speeds to 160 km per hour.
The section connecting New Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Sanand (North) near Ahmedabad has already been commissioned. Approximately 90 trains run daily on this section. All of Gujarat’s major ports, including Mundra, Kandla, Pipapav, Dahej, and Hazira, are already connected to WDFC.
Containers that used to take 35 hours to reach Delhi NCR from Gujarat’s ports now arrive in less than 12 hours. This reduction in transportation time has also led to a decrease in logistical costs.
