DFC link from Kanpur in UP to Gujarat ports will open in a year

New Delhi, Dec 1 (UNI) By 2021-end, the Railways will commission 45 per cent of the dedicated freight corridor (DFC) from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh to Palanpur in Gujarat, thereby establishing connectivity to three ports of Gujarat — Kandla, Pipavav and Mundra.

Railway Board Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vinod Kumar Yadav told reporters through video conferencing here that a 353-km stretch from Bhaupur to Khurja in Kanpur in the eastern DFC and Rewari to Madar on the western DFC section will be opened for traffic this month.

The Madar Palanpur section will be completed by March 2021, Khurja to Dadri section by June 2021 and Rewari to Dadri section by December 2021. Thus, direct connectivity of DFC from Kanpur to Palanpur will be operational by December 2021. Three ports of Gujarat — Kandla, Pipavav and Mundra — are already connected to Palanpur.

Mr Yadav described it as “a game changer for the Indian economy and rail transport”, saying it will increase both the speed and frequency of passenger trains on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi to Howrah routes.

Referring to the achievements of the Railways in freight transportation, Mr Yadav said the Railways loaded 10.968 million tonnes in November compared to 10.096 million tonnes in November 2019. Thus, the loading remained around nine per cent. In November 2020, the Railways carried 300 rakes, while in November 2019 the number was 160 — an increase of 87.5 per cent has been registered. This increase in volume is 87.2 lakh tonnes.

He said in November 2020, the average freight figure was 58,726 tonnes, while in October 2020 the figure was 56,128 tonnes. He said rail freight is expected to increase by 25 to 30 per cent on completion of DFC. Keeping this in mind, goods sheds are being built at every station of DFC.

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