1,337-km EDFC from Ludhiana to Sonnagar completed
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR), with Rs.108,000 crore sanctioned, has till now laid 290.64 km of pier foundation, done 267.48 km of pier construction, made 150.97 km of Girder Casting and launched 119 km of Girders.
Giving this update in Rajya Sabha on 9 Feb, Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply that the anticipated timeline and final cost can only be ascertained after award of all contract packages.
MAHSR project passes through high growth rate States of Gujarat and Maharashtra connecting business centres of Mumbai, Surat, Vadodara and Ahmedabad.
The project Economic Internal Rate of Return (EIRR) was estimated to be 11.8% as per feasibility study conducted by Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Meanwhile, three Railway Stations viz Rani Kamlapati Station of West Central Railway, Gandhinagar Capital station of Western Railway and Sir M. Visveswaraya Terminal Station of South Western Railway have been developed and commissioned during the last three years, Vaishnaw said.
Based on the experience gained from the redevelopment of these three railway stations, Ministry of Railways has launched ‘Amrit Bharat Station scheme’ for which 1,318 stations have been identified for development and redevelopment so far.
This scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach. It involves preparation of Master Plans and their implementation in phases to improve the amenities at the stations like improvement of station access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lift and escalators as necessary, cleanliness, free Wi-Fi, kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’, better passenger information systems, executive lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping etc. keeping in view the necessity at each such station.
The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans, sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballast less tracks, ‘Roof Plazas’ as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centres at the station in the long term.
The Minister also updated Rajya Sabha on construction of two Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) viz. Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) from Ludhiana to Sonnagar (1,337 km) and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT) to Dadri (1,506 km).
Construction of EDFC has been fully completed. Also 1,220 km of the 1,506-km WDFC has been completed. Train operations are going on in the completed sections, he said.
The construction of Dedicated Freight Corridors will reduce the logistic cost with higher axle load trains, Double Stack Container trains (DSC) and faster access to Northern hinterland by Western Ports and will also lead to development of new industrial hubs and Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals.
To ensure timely completion of Dedicated Freight Corridors, the Government has made timely provision of fund and monitored the project land acquisition activities by close coordination with State Governments directly and also in different forums i.e. Project Monitoring Group (PMG) etc. fiinews.com
