With the Eastern Corridor of dedicated freight corridor (DFC) all set to be ready by 2020, rail passengers would heave a sigh of relief as they would not have do advance bookings to get a confirmed ticket.
MoS for Railways Manoj Sinha said construction work of the dedicated freight corridor was in full swing. “After the completion of DFC, the movement of goods train would be through it only. This will help ease rail rush on main tracks. It will also enable increase the speed of passenger trains,”
Sinha said: “At present, the train tracks are overburdened and exhausted managing 60 per cent more traffic than its limit. If 20 goods trains are put off tracks, then 40 passenger trains can run on those as there is a major variation in the speed of goods and passenger trains.”
The minister added that as a part of the dedicated freight corridor between Ludhiana-Dadri-Kolkata (eastern corridor), Kanpur is an important station. “A yard has been constructed in Bhaupur in Kanpur, which will connect till Khurja – a distance of 353 km. Halt stations for goods trains will be made at a distance of 40 km each,” he said.
“So when there will ample number trains on the tract, there would be no rush for ticket booking, it would available on demand. Providing a confirmed ticket is the topmost priority of our government,” he said.
The total length of DFC will be 3500 km, of which eastern corridor will be 1700-km-long. The World Bank and the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) are providing funds for DFC construction. About 21 stations will be made on the eastern corridor, of which around 10 will be in UP alone.