E-Paper
Railways to set up 1,000 over bridges, underpasses to prevent accidents
“The DFC project will be accident-free,” a DFC official said, adding that the project will meet international safety standards.
To prevent accidents at railway crossings, which constitute as much as 40% of all rail accidents, the Dedicated Freight Corridor will have 1,000 over bridges and underpasses, officials said.
“We are in the process of constructing 700 underpasses and 300 over bridges. Out of these, 550 underpasses have already been built,” said RK Jain, managing director, DFC. The DFC has identified 46 crossings where it will soon begin constructing rail flyovers, he added.
“The DFC project will be accident-free,” a DFC official said, adding that the project will meet international safety standards. Once the flyovers and underpasses are built, goods trains will be able to run at a speed of 100 kmph, he said, seeking anonymity.
The eastern corridor from Ludhiana in Punjab and Dankuni in West Bengal is 1,875km long. The western corridor from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru port Trust near Mumbai is 1,506km long. They are aimed at decongesting 70% of India’s rail network and improve safety.
According to the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC), out of the total 2,843 km route of Eastern and Western DFC, more than 50% of the route work has been completed so far and 90% of the route is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
DFCC was established in October 2006.
“The DFC will be spending ₹18,000 crore towards safety, which will enable freight trains to run at a speed of 100 kmph with 12,000 tons of freight,” the official added.
The DFC is also building interchange points between freight and passenger tracks every 100km on the busy routes of Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi- Kolkata. These points will not only be used for freight but also as emergency exits in case of accidents, enabling accident relief trains to reach a spot within 15 minutes.
ARTs are trains with doctors, paramedics, beds and an operation theatre, along with necessary medicines to treat injured passengers and shift them from an accident spot.
These interchange points will also allow other trains on the route to continue their journey without being interrupted, the DFC official said.
“Eastern DFC will include 32 interchange points in places like Dadri, Khurja, Tundla, Bhaupur, Karchana, Ahora road, Mughalsarai, Sonnagar, Gomoh, Dankuni, while western DFC will have 22 of these points, including in Rewari, Ateli, Phulera, Kishangarh, Manikpur, Marwad, Palanpur, Udhna, JNPT,” Jain said.
