2 Trains from (TAN)TARANA ROAD to (SRID)SHRIDHAM

The biggest challenge in doing this work was road traffic block, as this ROB is o­ne of the busiest passages into the city of Valsad from Mumbai-Delhi highway.

Work o­n Freight Corridor proceeds o­n inspite of Covid challenges that came in the way.

Indian Railways’ PSU, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) has completed work of dismantling and reconstruction (after making way for DFC tracks) of Valsad Road Over Bridge (ROB) o­n the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor in the state of Gujarat in a record 20 day time.

Working in tandem with various Government agencies and the civil administration, the ROB which funnels busy traffic into Valsad ROB from the Mumbai-Delhi highway, a 20 day traffic block was secured o­n 02.06.2021 for dealing with this challenge.

Background:

Work in Western DFC’s Vaitarana – Sachin section faced a bottleneck of crossing a ROB near Valsad Town in South Gujarat. The ROB work could not be started due to various limitations and track laying activities would have been adversely affected. Track laying projects using state of the art New Track Construction (NTC) machine, would have been affected.

The Solution:

The project team geared up to take up this challenge. After many brainstorming sessions, an innovative solution was arrived at. The solution proposed was to insert a Twin precast box of 16m x 10m size o­n the approach of the ROB to take the NTC forward through it. The biggest challenge in doing this work was road traffic block, as this ROB is o­ne of the busiest passages into the city of Valsad from Mumbai-Delhi highway. The whole work is planned to be completed in 20 days road traffic block.

Extensive arrangements were made for pre-casting of these huge segments. Despite lock-downs and travel restrictions, a team of approximately 150 nos, including senior engineers toiled day & night to finish the casting works. Road traffic block was granted by the district administration of Valsad, responding favorably to the proposal.

The road traffic block of 20 days commenced o­n 02-06-2021 and the work is progressing as per planning. Four heavy duty hydraulic cranes having capacity varying from 300 MT to 500 MT are mobilized for the installation of these segments. Another challenge that was difficult to handle was solved by innovation in local handling of the segments. The precast segments are too big & heavy to

handle without causing any internal stresses during handling. The Project Team has designed a special carrier using a multi-axle trailer fitted with a steel platform o­n it. The fabrication of the steel platform was completely done at site even during the period when the industrial oxygen supply was prohibited in the country. The team could overcome all such constraints by continuously striving for alternatives and by taping the collective wisdom & experience of the team.

It may be noted that the Western Corridor connecting Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai will traverse through the states of UP, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra of WDFC & EDFC.

WDFC’s 306 km Rewari - Madar section was dedicated to the nation o­n 07.01.2021. Trial run of 369 km of WDFC between New Palanpur to New Kishangarh has been done. EDFC’s 351 km New Bhaupur - New Khurja section and the Operation Control Centre at Prayagraj were dedicated to the nation by the Hon’ble PM o­n 29.12.2020. A total of approx. 2800 route Km of the whole WDFC and EDFC (excluding the Sonnagar – Dankuni PPP section) will be commissioned by June 2022.

In the commissioned sections, a total of more than 4000 trains have been run. In Eastern DFC, it has more than 3000 trains and in WDFC more than 1000 trains. Total GTKM has crossed the 3 million ton mark. Some of the trains in the section are achieving an average speed of 99.38 kmph in EDFC and 92 kmph in WDFC. These speeds are comparable to any of the fastest mail express trains.

Central Railway

Press Release

Special Trains from Mumbai to Nagercoil and Varanasi

Railways will run special train (four days a week) between Mumbai and Nagercoil and superfast special train between Mumbai and Varanasi as per details given below:

1. Mumbai-Nagercoil Special Train (4 days week)

06340 special will leave Nagercoil at 06.00 hrs o­n every Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri from 7.12.2020 till further advice and arrive Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus at 19.15 hrs next day.

06339 special will leave Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus at 20.35 hrs o­n every Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat from 8.12.2020 till further advice and arrive Nagercoil 10.20 hrs o­n third day.

Halts: Dadar, Thane, Kalyan, Karjat (for 06339 o­nly), Pune, Daund, Kurduwadi, Solapur, Kalaburagi, Wadi, Yadgir, Raichur, Mantralayam Road, Adoni, Guntakal, Anantapur, Dharmavaram, Kadiri, Madanpalle Road, Pakala, Chittoor, Katpadi, Tiruppatur, Salem, Namakkal (for 06340 o­nly), Karur, Dindigul, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Satur, Kovilpatti, Tirunelveli, Nanguneri, Valliyur.

Composition: o­ne AC-2 Tier, Four AC-3 Tier, 10 Sleeper Class and 2 second class seating and o­ne pantry car.

REERVATION: Bookings for the fully reserved special train no. 06339 will open o­n 2.12.2020 at all computerised reservation centres and o­n website www.irctc.co.in.

2. Mumbai-Varanasi Special Train (daily)

02193 superfast special will leave Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus at 00.10 hrs from 1.12.2020 (midnight of 30.11.2020/1.12.2020) till further advice and arrive Varanasi at 03.30 hrs next day.

02194 superfast special will leave Varanasi at 10.00 hrs from 1.12.2020 till further advice and arrive Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus at 11.25 hrs next day.

Halts: Dadar, Thane, Kalyan, Nashik Road, Manmad, Chalisgaon, Pachora, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Itarsi, Pipariya, Narsingpur, Shridham, Madan Mahal (for 02193 o­nly), Jabalpur, Katni, Maihar, Satna, Manikpur, Prayagraj Chheoki, Vindhyachal, Mirzapur, Chunar, Kashi

NOTE:

01093/01094 Mumbai-Varanasi special is classified as superfast with new number 02193/02194 w.e.f. 1.12.2020.

Due to system constraint train no.01093 will be defined as superfast and superfast charges will be collected till the new 02193 is defined in the system.Passengers already booked their tickets o­n this train for journeys from 1.12.2020 and beyond will have to pay pending superfast charges o­n train.

Only passengers having confirmed tickets will be permitted to board these special trains

Passengers are advised to adhere all norms, SOPs related to COVID19 during the boarding, travel and at destination.

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Date: November 30, 2020

PR No.2020/11/58 & 61

This press release is issued by the Public Relations Department, Central Railway, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Mumbai