Western Railway successfully completes the Udhna Yard remodelling work

Western Railway has successfully accomplished the infrastructural work of Udhna Yard Remodelling on 6th March, 2023. The work was carried out within a span of about 35 days, consisting of 32 days of Pre NI and 3 days of staggered Non – Interlocking work (NI). The upgraded Udhna Yard is now equipped with the largest Electronic Interlocking (EI) work of Western Railway till date, having 392 routes. This yard remodelling was sanctioned as part of Udhna - Jalgaon Doubling which was commissioned during year 2018 -19.

            According to a press release issued by Shri Sumit Thakur – Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, for improving the efficiency of train movement at Udhna Junction, Yard Remodelling work was undertaken at Udhna station. Presently, Udhna serves as a junction station for Mumbai - Delhi/ Ahmedabad mainline and Udhna - Jalgaon line. The Yard remodelling work will decongest the yard and will benefit the traffic movement.

Shri Thakur further stated that after the Udhna Yard Remodelling work, the Route Relay Interlocking (RRI) is now the biggest over Western Railway’s Mumbai Division, having approx 400 routes. The work involved providing new RRI building, New Yard station master building, an integrated Coach Care Center & an Object Control building. It also consisted of construction of new island PF No. 4/5 with length of 606 m and extension of existing island PF No. 2/3 from 524 m to 590 m to accommodate 24 LHB coaches. This along with Udhna - Surat 3rd line will decongest Udhna - Surat section. The UP trains received on PF No. 3 & 4/5 will now be directly dispatched towards Chaltan. Presently trains are received on PF No. 2/3 which were the only available platforms. Further, the Tapti Valley Line No. 1 & 2 has been made fit for direct reception of passenger trains from Surat to Chaltan. The Goods yard has been interlocked. This will facilitate operations from a centralized place.

Giving more details of the work, Shri Thakur informed that during this yard remodelling work, out of 11 Crossovers, 10 Crossovers have been converted from 1: 8 ½ to 1: 12, which will enhance the speed in yard. Also, 58 new Turnouts and 21 new Derailing Switches have been laid in the electrified section. The Accident Relief Train (ART) line has also increased to 663 m from 400 m enabling direct dispatch & receipt of the ART. An additional siding for Accident Relief Medical Equipment (ARME) has also been made. The curve of Pit lines at both Udhna end & Surat end has been eased out. A new full length Shunting Neck of 600 m has been constructed towards Surat side. This is significant considering that the existing Surat low level siding is likely to be closed in near future.

Inorder to carry out the work of Non – Interlocking at Udhna Yard in connection with Udhna Yard Remodelling, a Traffic Work Order (TWO) was undertaken from 3rd to 06th March, 2023.

The benefits of project are as under:

1)      Will Improve punctuality of trains

2)      Removal of Bottleneck at Udhna Yard.

3)      Segregation of Main Line traffic and Udhna –Jalgaon Line traffic.

a)       The train traffic from/ towards Jalgaon will be dealt at PF No. 4 & 5 without disturbing Main Line.

b)      Freight trains from/ towards Jalgaon can be worked on bypass line at Udhna Yard without blocking the mainline/platforms.

4)      Efficient operations of trains at Udhna station.

5)      Electronic Interlocking for enhanced safety.

6)      Will pave way for construction of 3rd line between Udhna & Surat.