Yesterday on 17.08.2023 from Press Information Bureau, New Delhi, I am sharing with you what I understood after listening to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnab's speech of about 1.15 hours:-
➡️ Originally the speech was about the last leg of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor Shonnagar - Dankunni 538 km PPP model. Asked about this by two or three journalists, he replied that this part is not happening now, instead Sonnagar - Andal Multitracking Project (374 km), which is fully underwritten by the Ministry of Railways, will serve as a feeder route for EDFC...
more... in West Bengal and Jharkhand. In mining, industrial areas. So instead of the proposed 1875 km Ludhiana - Dankuni EDFC, the 1337 km Ludhiana - Shonnagar EDFC ends.Then EDFC will then integrate/mix the IR track as this multitracking project.
➡️ He said that since the Quadruple track from Sitarampur to Shaktigarh via Khana is already available, moreover, if Shaktigarh - Chandanpur is built, the entire Dankuni stretch will be Quadruple, so there is no need to make a separate DFC here, 2 of the 4 tow lines will be used as DFC.
➡️ As the missing link or extra 3rd & 4th line was not there from Shonnagar to Andal, this multi tracking project is for that.
So now the hope of a freight corridor up to Dankuni is lost in West Bengal. Very sad to hear this, I was hoping for such a big project in this part of our state, but it will not materialize🥲🙂
please wait...Translate to EnglishYo, listen up! So, yesterday I heard this dude Ashwini Vaishnab, the Railway Minister, giving a speech and I wanna share with you what I got from it. Basically, he was talking about this Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, you know, the Shonnagar - Dankunni part, which is like 538 km and was supposed to be done in a PPP model. But guess what? He said that ain't happening anymore! Instead, they're gonna focus on this Sonnagar - Andal Multitracking Project (374 km) in West Bengal and Jharkhand. It's gonna serve as a feeder route for the EDFC in those mining and industrial areas. So, forget about the Ludhiana - Dankuni EDFC, now it's gonna be Ludhiana - Shonnagar EDFC for like 1337 km. After that, they're gonna mix it up with the existing IR track, you know, integrate that shit.
Also, he mentioned that they already got this Quadruple track from Sitarampur to Shaktigarh via Khana, and if they build Shaktigarh - Chandanpur, the whole Dankuni stretch will be Quadruple. So, there's no need for a separate DFC there. They'll just use two out of the four track lines for the DFC.
Basically, this multitracking project is gonna fill in the missing link from Shonnagar to Andal. So, yeah, the dream of a freight corridor up to Dankuni in West Bengal is gone. It's pretty sad, man. I was really looking forward to this huge project in our state, but it ain't gonna happen. Bummer, right? 🥲🙂