West East freight corridors Linkage project to be inaugurated

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the crucial connectivity point to provide connectivity between west and east dedicated freight corridors. This means the ports in the west and east coasts will be linked to provide world class rail freight service to the states in western and Northern India. The project would also bring massive cargo to ports in Gujarat and Maharashtra as this would provide deep hinterland coupled with swift movement of goods.

The North South dedicated freight corridor conceived in 2009 however still remains on paper. The commerce ministry has made the proposal truncated to start from Itarsi and end with Vijayawada and consequently 3 major ports in Tamil Nadu will have no access to the proposed corridor.

The connectivity project involves electrified double tracks exclusively for goods trains between New Rewari (Rajasthan) and New Khurjajunctions( Western Uttar Pradesh).  The 173-km section linking the two freight corridors was built at a cost of Rs 10,141 crore and has six stations along the route — New Boraki, New Dadri, New Faridabad, New Prithla, New Tauru, and New Dharuhera.

The strategic routing of goods trains on the DFC track has resulted in a reduction in running time between Khurja and Rewari by up to 20 hours, effectively bypassing the congested NCR area encompassing Ghaziabad and Delhi The section has several engineering marvels including a one-km-long double-line rail tunnel with high-rise OHE electrification being the first of its kind in the world designed to seamlessly operate double-stack container trains.

It also has a 2.76 km viaduct at Sohna constructed with a height of 25 metres from the ground level, avoiding heavy earthwork that would have divided Sohna city into two parts. The section links DFC with Indian Railways at Dadri through a 4.54 km long Rail Flyover (RFO).

This corridor traverses diverse terrains, passing through key states such as Uttar Pradesh, touching Bulandshahar and GautamBudh Nagar, Haryana with its presence in Faridabad, Palwal, Gurugram, Mewat, and Rewari, and extending into Rajasthan, reaching Alwar.