2,843 km, 400-plus trains: Corridors cut time and cost, offer last-mile link

Traffic on the western corridor mainly comprises ISO containers from JNPT and Mumbai Port in Maharashtra, and Pipavav, Mundra and Kandla ports in Gujarat, headed for Inland Container Depots (ICDs) located in north India, mostly at Tughlakabad (Delhi), Dadri (UP), Dhandari Kalan (Punjab) and Khatuwas (Rajasthan). The corridor is also expected to see the transport of fertilisers, foodgrain, salt, coal, iron, steel and cement.

With the last remaining stretch on the WDFC, between Vaitarna (Saphale) and JNPT in Maharashtra, now operational, freight loading on the corridor is expected to increase further, driven by the direct connectivity to JNPT.

The 1,337-km Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) runs from Ludhiana (Punjab) to Sonnagar (Bihar), and caters mostly to coal and mineral traffic from eastern India. The EDFC has two distinct segments — an electrified double-line segment of 936 km between Sonnagar (Bihar) and Dadri (UP), and an electrified single-track segment of 401 km between Ludhiana (Sahnewal) in Punjab and Khurja in UP.

Currently, a total of about 426 freight trains run on both corridors daily.

The alignment of the EDFC, which was fully commissioned in October 2023, takes a detour to bypass densely populated towns like Mirzapur, Allahabad, Kanpur, Etawah, Firozabad, Tundla, Hathras, Aligarh, Hapur, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Ambala, Rajpura, Sirhind, Doraha and Sahnewal.

These special freight corridors are one of the biggest infrastructure projects undertaken by the Railways. Currently, a total of about 426 freight trains run on both corridors daily.

While the current share of freight traffic by rail is around 27%, the National Rail Plan has envisaged an increase to 45% by 2030 i.e 3,000 million tonnes. The Railways recorded its highest ever loading of 1,670 million tonnes in the 2025-26 financial year.

Due to their separation from the passenger network, the DFCs offer reduced transit time, less cost, and last mile connectivity at certain places.

According to Railways data, the average speed of trains on DFCs was over 50 kmph, double the average speed of freight trains on the non-DFC network. In April and May, the speed was 44.9 kmph and 44.7 respectively on the EDFC, and 53.6 kmph and 52.3 kmph respectively on the WDFC.

In Indian Railways, freight revenue plays a crucial role in subsidising passenger travel, with freight services accounting for over 65 per cent of the Railways’ total earnings.

Earlier, due to oversaturation of the existing trunk routes — Howrah-Delhi on the eastern corridor and Mumbai-Delhi on the western corridor — with line capacity utilisation varying between 115 per cent and 150 per cent, Railways saw a dip in freight traffic.

This led to the conceptualisation of the Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) along the eastern and western routes, which would be separated from the passenger network. The importance of the DFCs can be gauged from the fact that the National Highways along these corridors, comprising 0.5 per cent of the road network, account for almost 40 per cent of the total road freight.

The DFC project was first discussed at a Japan-India meeting in April 2005. It was included in the declaration of co-operation signed between the two sides. A feasibility study report was prepared in October 2007 and a special purpose vehicle — the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) — was set up for construction, operation and maintenance of the corridors.

The projects were financed through debt funding from World Bank (Rs 14,900 crore) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (Rs 38,722 crore), with gross budgetary support accounting for the remaining amount.

In its Budget this year, the government announced plans for a third corridor, connecting Dankuni in West Bengal to Surat in Gujarat. The detailed project report is being prepared.