A) Kevadiya, The Railway station to Statue of Unity
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off eight trains connecting different regions of the country to Kevadiya, Gujarat on January 17. Kevadiya station is India’s first railway station with a Green Building Certification, said Prime Ministers’ Office (PMO). Kevadia is home to the Statue of Unity dedicated to Vallabhbhai Patel, in Gujarat.
B) Railway employee wins Army awards
In a rare felicitation of a civilian government servant, a Group ‘C’ employee of the Indian Railways — who was closely involved in managing operations in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack in 2019 and the current India-China standoff — was awarded with the Chief of Army Staff Commendation on the Army Day.
Shri Amresh Kumar Chaoudhary is the in charge of Military control room which is known as Mil Rail.
C) Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail line: Indian Railways starts train operations from Yog Nagari Rishikesh station
Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail line project: The Rishikesh-Karnprayag broad gaugue line is beinmg constructed by RVNL. In this initiative, the railway station has been constructed at Yog Nagri Rishikesh. The Jammu-Tawi Express became the maiden train to arrive at the newly constructed railway station. For details about the rail line project, click here http://railwaya2z.com/railway-news-27th-june-to-4th-july-2020/
The broad gauge railway line, worth of Rs 16,216 crore is scheduled for completion by December 2024.
D) Hyundai takes railway route to ship 125 vehicle units to Nepal
Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) has dispatched 125 cars to Nepal through Railway route. Indian Railways is trying hard to garner the lost goods traffic.
The first export consignment was flagged-off from the Walajabad Railway hub near the company’s Irungattukottai-based production facility outside Chennai, the auto major said in a statement.
The train will reach the India-Nepal border at Nautanwa near the border town of Sonauli, from where the last-mile delivery will be through the roadways owing to the topography of Nepal, it added.
The overall on-road movement time is expected to reduce from 8 days to 5 days, bringing the cars faster and more eco-friendly manner to the customers, the company said.
E) Indian Railways: From freight to super-freight (DFCCIL)
The 351-km-long New Bhaupur to New Khurja section of the eastern leg of the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) was declared open by the Prime Minister. The average speed of the train has been kept at 70 kmph while currently it is 25 kmph.
Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL), a special purpose vehicle was developed in October 2006. The project was approved for an estimated cost of Rs 28,181 crore.
Two corridors—1,504-km western corridor and 1,856-km eastern corridor—spanning 3,360 km were to be built, along existing track alignments so as to involve least amount of land acquisition, an onerous exercise that could bog down the project with its high cost and attendant problems.
The proposed western corridor connecting Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai’s JNPT would pass through Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, while the eastern corridor (originating from Dankuni in West Bengal) is designed to pass through Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to terminate in Ludhiana (Punjab).
Design Features of DFCCIL
Dedicated Freight Corridors are proposed to adopt world class and state-of-the-art technology. Significant improvement is proposed to be made in the existing carrying capacity by modifying basic design features. The permanent way will be constructed with significantly higher design features that will enable it to withstand heavier loads at higher speeds. Simultaneously, in order to optimize productive use of the right of way, dimensions of the rolling stock is proposed to be enlarged. Both these improvements will allow longer and heavier trains to ply on the Dedicated Freight Corridors. 25 tn axle load wagons are expeceted to run on DFC. This will significantly increase throughput on IR.
The following tables provide comparative information of the existing standards on Indian Railways and the proposed standard for DFCC
Upgraded Dimensions Of DFC:
F) Bullet Train project: Indian Railways readies for project commission
According to Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman of Railway Board, the railways are waiting for the Maharashtra government to make the land for bullet train infrastructure available. The state government of Maharashtra has promised that they will ensure more than 80 per cent of the land is provided for laying bullet train tracks in the next four months.
So far, Indian Railways has acquired 23 per cent land in Maharashtra and 82 in Gujrat. It is to note that Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train is India’s first attempt to provide high speed rail corridors in the country. The work for the railway lines has started in Gujarat.