Transit time of milk trains to NCR region from Gujarat slashed

The transit time of trains carrying milk for the Delhi National Capital Region from Gujarat has been slashed by nearly 10 hours due to the operationalization of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from New Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Sanand near Ahmedabad in Gujarat, the DFCCIL said in a statement Thursday.

A large portion of Delhi NCR milk requirements is fulfilled from dairy plants located in Gujarat.

Approximately 35 lakh litres of milk is supplied daily by Banas and Mehsana dairy around Palanpur area, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) said.

The statement said the Indian Railways has undertaken transportation of milk through efficient deployment of Rail Milk tanks in a dedicated circuit between Palanpur in Gujarat and Delhi NCR area.

“With the operationalization of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from New Dadri (in UP) to Sanand (near Ahmedabad in Gujarat), the transportation of milk tank wagons has benefitted significantly with faster speeds.

“Consequently, the transit time has been slashed drastically ensuring efficient and reliable movement of essential commodities. The transit time for Millennium (Milk) trains for Banas Dairy from DFC New Palanpur station/Gujarat to Palwal in Haryana (covering a distance of approx. 855 km) has been reduced to 14.49 hours from the previous 23.29 hours on IR alignment, a saving of a whopping 37.23 per cent in the month of July 2023,” it said.

Now the Milk trains originate from New Palanpur (WDFC) and run on WDFC up to New Prithla in Haryana. From here, these then move on to Indian Railways alignment before terminating at Hind Terminals Multi Modal Logistics Park in Palwal, it said.

“This time saving is especially significant for a perishable commodity like milk, establishing DFC as a credible and cost-effective mode for transportation of Dairy products; thus, living up to its moniker of a real game changer,” it said.

Currently, about 2,196 km (77.2 per cent) of DFC has been commissioned. Freight trains are operating on these sections augmenting freight network capacity of Indian Railways. Construction work on the remaining sections is at an advanced stage and balance sections are targeted for commissioning within a year.

An average of 135 trains run per day on EDFC and 80 trains per day on WDFC. These trains clock 230 million GTKMs (KM earned with the. gross tonnage hauled including the weight of the locomotive) per day.

DFC has also achieved the milestone of running a cumulative one lakh trains on its alignment on May 26, 2023, it said. PTI ASG CK CK CK