25 Trains from (VRG)VIKRAMNAGAR to (TAN)TARANA ROAD

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.

WESTERN RAILWAY INSTALLED ROOFTOP SOLAR PANELS OF 5601.69 KWp CAPACITY AT 75 STATIONS

Photo caption :- A view of the solar power panels installed o­n rooftop of a railway station.

In order to achieve the objective of Indian Railways to become 100% self sustainable for all it's power needs and also to contribute to national solar power goals, Western Railway has solarised its 75 stations till date. The use of solar power will accelerate the Railway's mission to achieve the goal of becoming “Net Zero Carbon Emission Railway”before 2030.

According to a press release issued by Shri Sumit Thakur - Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, suitable Rooftop Solar Panels have been installed at 75 stations over Western Rly. 8.67 MWpcapacity rooftop solar plants have been provided at various railway stations and office buildings. These plants have been commissioned and connected to grid and as a result, there is a saving ofRs. 3 crore is accrued during the financial year.

Shri Thakur informed that Solar Plants have been installed at 22 stations in Mumbai Division, 34 stations in Ratlam Division, 6 stations of Vadodara Division & 8 stations in Rajkot Division. Similarly, in Ahmedabad Division, solar plants have been installed at Sabarmati & Ambli Road stations as well as Ahmedabad station building whereas in Bhavnagar Division at Bhavnagar station & Somnath station building. In Mumbai Division, the rooftop Solar Plants have been installed at Churchgate, Grant Road, Matunga Road, Andheri, Mumbai Central, Lower Parel, Mahim, Khar Road, Santacruz, Ram Mandir, Malad, Kandivali, Borivali, Dahisar, Mira Road, Bhayander, Naigaon, Vasai Road, Nallasopara, Dahanu Road stations, while atDadar as well as at Bandra Terminus, station buildings & platforms. In Ratlam Division, rooftop Solar Plants have been installed at Chanderiya, Nimbhera, Gambhiri, Jawad Road, MangliyaGaon, Ajnod, Lakshmibai Nagar, Ranyal, Jasmiya, Pipliya, Mandsaur, Nauganwan, Runija, Bangrod, Sehore, Kalapipla, Pachwan, Maksi, Vikramnagar station buildings, Indore, Ujjain, Dewas, Chittaurgadh, Meghnagar, Bajrangarh, Fatehabad, Gautampura, Dr. Ambedkar Nagar (Mhow), Nagda, Nimach, Jaora,Badnagar, Shujalpur, Kachrod stations and at Ratlam station building & platforms. In Vadodara Division, the rooftop Solar Plants have been installed at Vadodara, Od, Makarpura, Varnarna, Sadhanpura station buildings and at Godhra staton building & platforms. In Rajkot Division, the rooftop Solar Plants have been installed at Rajkot, Okha, Jamnagar, Chamaraj, Lakhamachi, Modpur, Lakhabawal and Pipli stations.

It is worth mentioning that Indian Railways is set to produce solar energy for meeting all it's energy consumption needs of more than 33 billion units by 2030. Current annual requirement is about 20 billion units. Indian Railways has a mega plan for installing solar plants of 20 GW capacity by 2030 by utilizing its vacant land. About 51,000 hectares of vacant land is available with Indian Railways and is now ready to extend all support to the developers for installing solar power plants o­n Railway’s vacant un-encroached land. It may be noted that Railways is also set to achieve 100% electrification by the year 2023 and is committed to utilize solar energy for meeting its traction power requirement and become a complete ‘Green mode of transportation’. This is in line with the recent directive of Hon’ble Prime Minister to solarise railway stations and utilize vacant railway land for Renewable Energy (RE) projects.

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