Categories: Miscellaneous

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Inaugurates India’s First Aluminum Freight Rake at Bhubaneswar Railway Station

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated India’s first aluminium freight rake — 61 BOBRNALHSM1 — at Bhubaneshwar Railway Station. The rake’s destination is Bilaspur. As per reports, the aluminium freight rake wields the capacity to carry 180-ton more goods as against the traditional rake. Moreover, it is 180 tons lighter than the traditional steel rake.

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What Has Been Said:

“In a first, a railway wagon rake made from light-weight aluminium has been launched. This is indeed a happy moment for the engineers, designers, and all others involved in the project,” said Vaishnaw. On the other hand, the redevelopment work of the Bhubaneswar Railway Station will commence soon.

Govt Plans: A World Class Railway Infrastructure:

The railway station will be redevelopment to offer a world-class experience informed Union Minister Vaishnaw. The planning and design work for the redevelopment work and the tender process have been completed. Further, the groundwork for the redevelopment will begin soon and Bhoomi Pujan, or the groundbreaking ceremony will be done soon. Within a few months, Bhubaneswar Railway Station will develop into a world-class station. Meanwhile, the Union Minister also informed about the much-awaited Khordha-Bolangir railway line that will ensure smooth connectivity between western Odisha and the coastal part.

Talking about the Khordha-Bolangir railway line, he said that the work is in progress. Though a hurdle of environment clearance has come in the way, they are in talks with the state government for the same regarding the 100 km forest area. “The construction work of the Khordha- Bolangir railway line has picked up the pace. The only hurdle is the 100 km forest area. After giving high efforts to obtain the clearance for phase-I, the State government has given the green signal. The dream project will soon turn into reality,” said Vaishnaw.

Features of This Rake:

Fully Lockbolted construction with no welding on superstructure.
The tare is 3.25 tons lower than normal steel rakes, 180 ton extra carrying capacity resulting in higher throughput per wagon.
Higher payload to tare ratio 2.85.
The reduced tare will reduce carbon footprint as lower consumption of fuel in empty direction and more transport of freight in loaded condition. A single rake can save over 14,500 tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime.
80% is resale value of the rakes.
Cost is 35% higher as the superstructure is all aluminium.
Lower maintenance cost due to higher corrosion and abrasion resistance.

Its Impact on Climate Change:

The reduced tare will reduce carbon footprint as lower consumption of fuel in empty direction and more transport of freight in loaded condition. A single rake can save over 14,500 tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime. Iron industry consumes a lot of Nickel and Cadmium which comes from import. So, proliferation of Aluminum wagons will result in less import. At the same time, this is good for local aluminum industry.