Report derails plans on freight corridor

The final study report prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Agency on the ambitious Dedicated...

The final study report prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on the ambitious Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) Project, submitted to the Railway Ministry on Friday, has punctured holes in Indian Railways’ plans for the project.

The issues raised in the final report have already been submitted to the Railways in the form of a draft final report. Ministry officials on Friday said that no fundamental changes have been made in the report.

Pegging the cost of construction, rolling stock acquisition and operation and maintenance for both the Eastern and Western corridors over a 35-year-period at Rs 49, 979.8 crore, JICA has expressed difference of opinion on several key issues which the Railways had already accorded in-principle approvals to.

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To start with, Railways plans to operate flat-type wagons for Double Stack Container operations has not found favour with the Japanese with the study raising question marks over the stability of the wagons.

JICA has also favoured the use of electric traction for the Western DFC against the Railways original plan of having a diesel traction on the western route and an electric traction on the Eastern DFC. The study has also found fault with the Railways plans to run longer Double Coupled Trains with a loop length of around 1,500 m. Stating that the move will result in reduction of line capacity, JICA has said that longer trains would result in more time being required for other single trains to pass through the loop.

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