Bhadan to Khurja section of Eastern DFC to be operational from October 2

A stretch of eastern dedicated freight corridor from Bhadan to Khurja in Uttar Pradesh will be made commercially operational from October 2, according to DFCCIL.

With the opening of the 194-km section, 15 goods trains running in the North Central Railway Zone will be shifted to the DFC easing out traffic on the Delhi-Kanpur section, Anurag Sachan, managing director of the PSU, said on Monday.

Located between DelhiKanpur section, the BhadanKhurja stretch has six stations and a total of 249 bridges consisting of 17 major, 137 minor, 92 Rail Under Bridges (RUB) and 3 Rail Fly Overs (RFOs).

The average speed of the train will be around 65-70 kmph, he said.

He also said that on the Western freight corridor, the 650 double line from Rewari to Palanpur will be completed for commercial operations by March 2020 while Rewari to Dadri will be done in March 2021.

The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation Limited (DFCCIL) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Australia's University of Wollongong (UoW)for mutually beneficial collaboration for a wide range of research, teaching and consultation activities on Monday, a statement said.

The MOU was signed by Sachan and Professor Paul Wellings, CBE, Vice-Chancellor, University of Wollongong.

Adam Gilchrist, Austrian cricket legend and Brand Ambassador UoW, was present on the occasion.

Both organisations are poised to benefit with academic visits for research, lectures and consultation, joint teaching programmes and research activities, and participation in joint international conferences, seminars and workshops.

Staff and student exchanges will be facilitated through DFCCIL's upcoming Heavy Haul Rail Research Institute.