October 13, 2008

SER to upgrade feeder for freight corridor

It is reported that South Eastern Railway is likely to upgrade the 44 kilometer long Bhojudih Mohuda Gomoh feeder route in its Adra division.

The route is one of the 17 feeder routes identified by the Railway Board for the Delhi to Howrah freight corridor project and is the only identified feeder route which comes under the jurisdiction of the South Eastern Railway.

The primary feeder routes for the Delhi to Howrah freight corridor include Sonnagar to Durgapur via Gomoh, Sonnagar to Tatanagar via Garhwa Road and Barkakana to Bokaro via Chandrapura.

The first phase of the Delhi to Howrah freight corridor project, also known as the eastern corridor will come upto Sonnagar in Bihar. The final location study for the project will be undertaken by the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India, set up by the union ministry of railways. About 320 kilometer of rail link will be constructed for the eastern corridor. The total projected cost for the dedicated freight corridor, including the eastern and western corridor is INR 28,000 crore, with the investment for the eastern corridor alone being INR 11,588 crore. The freight corridor will have double stack containers of 25 tonne axle load each, which will enhance the cargo handling capacity by 20%. Also, the length of a conventional goods train will be enhanced from the existing 650 meter.