DFCCIL Plans New Corridors to Boost Freight Capacity by 2025

The Managing Director of DFCCIL, Ravindra Kumar Jain, has declared that the Railway Board has received the detailed project reports (DPRs) for the newly established freight corridors.

Among the suggested corridors are:

1. The East Coast Freight Corridor connecting Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, and Kharagpur, West Bengal
2. The Kharagpur to Palghar (Maharashtra) East-West Corridor
3. Vijayawada to Itarsi, the North-South Freight Corridor (Madhya Pradesh)

These projects, which span a combined 4,300 kilometers, are anticipated to cost over Rs 2,00,000 crore. These corridors will serve particular commodities and pass through important national areas.

The World Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), two significant international organizations, have expressed interest in supporting these initiatives. Even when the railroads have enough money for infrastructure, it is still possible to get more help from these organizations.

Jain emphasized the development of the existing Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), which stands at 96.4% completion. This 2,843-kilometer corridor connects the Eastern and Western arms, passing through 56 districts and seven states. Over the previous year, traffic has increased by 60%.

Jain stated that, considering feeder routes to different ports, 93.2% of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) is complete in an interview with Businessline. With half of this leg completed, there are still about 100 km to go. Contracts have been awarded to assure timely completion, and the full line is anticipated to be operational by December 2025.

Presently, the DFC operates more than 320 trains per day, 200 of which are on the Eastern DFC and 120 on the Western DFC. By year's end, Jain expects this number to increase to 400. With 40–50% of the line capacity now in use and the possibility to reach 150 percent, the DFCs have significantly increased line capacity. A total of 480 trains can pass through each corridor in either direction at a time.

DFCCIL is extending its reach to encompass LNG container transit and e-commerce in addition to standard cargo such as coal, perishables, and auto components. The organization intends to begin car transport along the Western DFC from Surat to Kanpur and beyond. It is also investigating "Over Dimensional Cargo" (ODCs).

On December 12, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially opened the DFC network, praising it as a driver for swift national development and a game changer for India in the twenty-first century.

The National Rail Plan, which seeks to raise the railway's modal share in India from 28% to 44% by 2051, is in line with the DFC initiative. Additionally, it backs the National Logistics Policy, which seeks to cut logistics expenses from 15% of GDP to 8% by 2030.

By encouraging a transition to a more effective rail transport system and drastically lowering highway congestion, these Dedicated Freight Corridor projects will unleash economic potential and relieve traffic on the congested road network.