DEDICATED FREIGHT CORRIDOR – CONSTRUCTION & MAINTENANCE PRACTICES PRESENTATION BY P.N.RAM, CE/C/V, SOUTH CENTRAL RAILWAY,SECUNDERABAD

What is dedicated freight corridor? A dedicated freight corridor is expected to be the proposed new track exclusively reserved for running of freight trains at a speed of about 100 Kmph with increased axle load and train load. mostly along the golden quadrilateral i.e. high traffic density routes.

Need for Dedicated Freight Corridor To cope up with the increased freight traffic due to growth of economy as a whole. To off load the high density routes, mostly golden quadrilaterals. To increase the average speed of freight trains from 25 Kmph to about 50 Kmph. To run wider freight stock with improved pay load/tare weight ratio from existing 2.4 to 3.0 and above. To allow heavier axle load for increased loading. To increase the moving dimension for wider freight stocks for increased train load.

Growth of freight traffic on Indian Railways over the years Freight Traffic (MT) Growth (MT) Avg. annual growth (MT) 1950-51 73.20 -- 1960-61 119.80 46.60 4.66 1970-71 167.90 48.10 4.81 1980-81 195.90 28.00 2.80 1990-91 318.40 122.50 12.25 1999-00 456.42 138.02 13.80 2000-01 473.50 17.08 2001-02 492.50 19.00 2002-03 518.74 26.24 2003-04 557.39 38.65 2004-05 585.35 27.96 2005-06 668.00 82.65 2006-07 726.00(Target) 58.00

INDIAN FREIGHT STOCK – PAY LOAD/TARE WEIGHT RATIO Type of Wagon Tare Weight Pay Load PL/TW Ratio with CC+2 PL/TW Ratio with CC+8 BOX 25.6 55.7 2.25 2.48 BOXN 22.6 58.7 2.68 2.95 BOXN-HA 23.17 58.81 2.62 2.88 BCN 25.5 55.8 2.26 2.50 BCNA 24.5 56.7 2.40 2.64 BCX 29.3 52.0 1.84 2.05

UTILIZATION OF WAGONS ON INDIAN RAILWAY Year Wagon Km. Per wagon per day Remarks 1950-51 62.3 Wagon utilization on other Railways is as follows:- French Railway – 73.4 German Railway – 70.6 Japanese Railway – 258.4 1980-81 73.4 1990-91 110.5 1999-00 177.4 2000-01 179.0 2001-02 191.6 2002-03 204.6 2003-04 187.3

Railway Budget 2006-07 – Initiative for improving freight loading Additional load of 4 to 8 tones per wagon adds 100MT loading capacity and revenue of Rs.5,000 Crores. During 2005-06 loading target increased from 635MT to 668MT. Pay load/tare weight ratio to improve to better than 3:1 and thereafter around 4:1. Permission to run private containers. Introduction of double stack container train. Development of wagon leasing market. Introduction of 25T axle load trains. Validity of brake power certificate for CC rakes increased from 6,000 to 7,500 Km.

Railway Budget 2006-07 Dedicated Freight Corridor Project Following dedicated freight corridor project included in the budget: Western Corridor: JNPT – Vadodara-Ahmedabad – Palanpur – Jaipur – Rewari -Thuglakabad. Eastern Corridor: Ludhiana – Ambala – Seharampur – Khurja – Allahabad - Son nagar.

Standard of construction Likely standard of construction for dedicated freight corridor is as follows:- Axle load – 30T (Bridges may be designed for 40T). Speed potential – 100 KMPH. Ruling gradient – not steeper than 1 in 150. Track structure – 72Kg. (90 UTS) Rails, PSC sleepers with 1660/KM, Ballast cushion 350mm. Loop length – 1.5Km to 2.00Km. Block Section – 30Km to 40Km. Signalling and Interlocking – CTC with Electronic Interlocking, GPS based Cab Signalling.

Construction aspects Agency for Construction:- Railway or SPV. Design – Consultant. Checking of design – Consultant. Execution – Composite Contract. Quality Control – Consultant. P.Way Material – Part of the Contract. Laying and Linking – Mechanized system. Welding of rail joints – Mobile Flash Butt Plant.

Maintenance of freight corridor Periodical maintenance - Contract Inspections and Maintenance Organization – Under SPV. quality checks – Consultant. Disaster management – Separate wing under SPV.

Conclusion Freight corridor has to be constructed with improved standards. Detailed study on each aspect has to be done before laying the standards. Modern construction practices to be adopted for improving quality. Maintenance Organization has to be set up for better maintenance.

Thank You