Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday dedicated to the nation the 306-km Madar-Rewari link of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor; and flagged off 1.5-km, double stack loaded train between New Ateli in Haryana and New Kishangarh in Rajasthan on the freight corridor.

It is a big achievement, said Modi, making India one of the select countries to have implemented such a project (run 1.5 km long double stack containers under electric wire).

This project will benefit traders, farmers, industrialists of Rajasthan and Haryana, he said adding that logistics parks, parcel hubs and container terminals along the DFC will make it useful to serve multiple stakeholders.

In a first, the double stack 1.5 km long electric train was run in the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL’s) newly commissioned 7.5 meter high overhead electrical section.

Indian Railways had inaugurated double stack container trains in 2006, and has been running such trains, but operating a 1.5-km long train became possible with the freight corridor being launched.

Speaking on the occasion, Ashok Gehlot, Chief Minister, Rajasthan, requested the Prime Minister to set up a railway station of the freight corridor near Bhiwadi that can serve the Japanese investment region.

Gehlot also listed several railway projects in Rajasthan that had been sanctioned, but work on which has stopped, and requested the Centre to expedite these projects in the forthcoming budget.

Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister, Haryana, said that the freight project will benefit automobile, pharma, and other industries spread across Haryana.

The train flagged off from New Ateli station was loaded from Concor’s multimodal logistics park at Khatuwas and from Garhi Harsaru inland container depot of Gateway Logistics. “The 1.5-km long trains consist of 90 wagons and two brake vans with a gross weight of 4,941 tonnes destined to Mundra port in Gujarat,” said railway officials. The wagons are hauled by two locomotives – one 12,000 HP made at Alstom-Indian Railway factory in Madhepura and another at Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, West Bengal.

The train flagged off from New Kishangarh station on Western dedicated freight corridor is loaded from ports of Pipavav and Mundra and comprises 90 wagons, two brake vans have a gross weight of 5,966 tonnes -- hauled by two locomotives, according to rail officials.

These containers are destined for Concor’s Tughlakabad and Dadri depot.

Published on January 7, 2021