Dedicated Freight Corridor Transforms Indian Railways

Positive India:New Delhi:
The 14th Foundation Day of Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) was celebrated at a function in New Delhi on 18th January 2020. Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry PiyushGoyal congratulated team DFCCIL for completing 500 km of Dedicated Freight Corridor and exhorted the team to achieve the goal of 991 km by March 2020. He said that DFC has the impact to transform the railways sector. It is necessary to have separate tracks for freight and for passengers to ensure faster movement of both. PiyushGoyal said that Indian Railways should run freight trains in convoys for maximum utilisation of the path and increasing the average speed of freight trains. Just like IRCTC which pays compensation for delays in its Tejas trains, Railways freight customers should be compensated for late arrival of goods trains and emphasized for time-tabled goods train run on DFCCIL.

Vinod Kumar Yadav Chairman, Railway Board and Chairman DFCCIL, enunciated that consolidation, growth and reforms are the three crucial areas which Indian Railways are working on. He said that Dedicated Freight Corridors are ushering in a paradigm change in Indian Railways and asserted that DFCCIL will play a significant role in shaping the Indian economy. He said that IR is upgrading the Railway network, especially the Delhi – Mumbai and Delhi – Howrah sectors for running faster and modern trains. He further emphasized that by having acquired 98.5 % land, DFCCIL is on the fast track for project completion.

Anurag Sachan, MD, DFCCIL, while addressing the gathering on this occasion profusely recognised the dynamic leadership and continuous support of PiyushGoyal. He also assured that team DFCCIL will work hard to complete the project on time.

Other dignitaries present in the function were Manjula Rangarajan, Financial Commissioner, Railway Board, Pradeep Kumar, Member S&T, Railway Board, Pinky Anand, Additional Solicitor General. An array of senior officers from Railway Board, DFCCIL, PSUs, World Bank & JICA, and other stakeholders attended the event.

In the awards ceremony 28 individual awards and 4 Group awards were given. The running shield for the Western Corridor was given to Ajmer & Ahmedabad units jointly and for Eastern Corridor, it was given to Pt Deendayal Upadhayaya (Mughalsarai) unit.