Ministry of Railways Advances Infrastructure with Dedicated Freight Corridors, Modernization Initiatives, and Enhanced Freight Capacity
Ministry of Railways has taken up construction of two Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC) viz. Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) from Ludhiana to Sonnagar (1337 Km) and the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT) to Dadri (1506 Km). Out of total 2843 Km, 2741 Route Kilometers (96.4%) has been commissioned and operational. The work in balance section has been taken up. Ministry of Railways has undertaken the work of preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPR) for following three (03) new Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs). (i) East-Coast Corridor: Kharagpur to Vijayawada (ii) East-West corridor: (a) Palghar-Bhusawal-Nagpur-Kharagpur-Dankuni (b) Rajkharsawan – Kalipahari – Andal (iii) North-South Sub-corridor: Vijayawada-Nagpur–Itarsi DPRs of above three corridors are under examination. None of the above three DFCs have been sanctioned yet. The DFC Projects are highly capital intensive and the final decision regarding the sanction of any DFC Project depends upon many factors such as technical feasibility, financial & economic viability, traffic demand and availability of funds & financial options etc. Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) Project will have positive impact on transportation and logistics sector as it will enable enhanced movement of Double Stack Container (DSC) trains, higher axle load trains, faster access of northern hinterland by Western Ports and development of new terminals/linkages with industries along the DFC. The Eastern DFC will mostly cater to mineral traffic from Eastern India. These developments will enable reduction in logistic cost. DFC has contributed to creating additional paths on the conventional network by diverting freight traffic to EDFC and WDFC. Traffic on DFC has increased from 247 average trains per day in 2023-24 to 352 average trains per day in 2024-25 (till Feb.2025). In Feb. 2025, 371 average trains per day were run. As a result, Railways have been able to run additional goods and coaching services over its network with better punctuality. Due to the increase in services, both freight and coaching, Indian Railways’ earnings from train services have gone up. Modernisation and upgradation of railway infrastructure is a need based and ongoing process subject to operational requirement, technical feasibility, commercial viability, resource availability, etc. A number of works have been taken up to modernize and upgrade railway infrastructure including rolling stock and signaling system. Some of them are as under: High Horse Power Electric Freight Locomotives, a manufacturing unit, having modern World class manufacturing facilities, sanctioned at Dahod. taken include laying of track structure consisting of 60 kg/90 Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) rails on Pre-stressed Reinforced Concrete (PSC) sleepers with elastic fastening, laying of 130 meter/260 meter longer rails to avoid welding of joints, adoption of better welding technology for rails i.e. Flash Butt Welding, use of thick web switches and Weldable Cast Manganese Steel (WCMS) crossings, using improved fittings, maintenance of track with the help of track machines, Ultrasonic Flaw Detection (USFD) testing of rails, etc. The Average Annual Budget allocation for New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling Projects across Indian Railways is given below: Period Average Outlay Increase w.r.t. average allocation of 2009-14 2009-14 ₹ 11,527 crore/year – 2024-25 68,634 crores Nearly 6 times To increase the freight handling capacity in IR, ‘Gati Shakti Multi- Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT)’ policy has been launched on 15.12.2021 with the objective of increasing investment from industry in development of additional terminals for handling rail cargo. GCTs are also equipped with facility of mechanized loading / unloading which will, contribute in reduction of transit time and costs for business. So far, 97 GCTs have been commissioned which enable additional freight traffic for Railways. Further In-principle approval (IPAs) for 277 proposals for Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals have already been issued. Freight loading and revenue during the last five years: – Year Freight Loading (In million Tonnes) Revenue Earning from Goods (₹ in Crore) 2019-2024 6952.3 7,02,372.29 This information was given by the Union Minister of Railways, Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply in Lok Sabha today. ***** Dharmendra Tewari/Shatrunjay Kumar Ministry of Railways has taken up construction of two Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC) viz. Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) from Ludhiana to Sonnagar (1337 Km) and the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT) to Dadri (1506 Km). Out of total 2843 Km, 2741 Route Kilometers (96.4%) has been commissioned and operational. The work in balance section has been taken up. Ministry of Railways has undertaken the work of preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPR) for following three (03) new Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs). (i) East-Coast Corridor: Kharagpur to Vijayawada (ii) East-West corridor: (a) Palghar-Bhusawal-Nagpur-Kharagpur-Dankuni (b) Rajkharsawan – Kalipahari – Andal (iii) North-South Sub-corridor: Vijayawada-Nagpur–Itarsi DPRs of above three corridors are under examination. None of the above three DFCs have been sanctioned yet. The DFC Projects are highly capital intensive and the final decision regarding the sanction of any DFC Project depends upon many factors such as technical feasibility, financial & economic viability, traffic demand and availability of funds & financial options etc. Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) Project will have positive impact on transportation and logistics sector as it will enable enhanced movement of Double Stack Container (DSC) trains, higher axle load trains, faster access of northern hinterland by Western Ports and development of new terminals/linkages with industries along the DFC. The Eastern DFC will mostly cater to mineral traffic from Eastern India. These developments will enable reduction in logistic cost. DFC has contributed to creating additional paths on the conventional network by diverting freight traffic to EDFC and WDFC. Traffic on DFC has increased from 247 average trains per day in 2023-24 to 352 average trains per day in 2024-25 (till Feb.2025). In Feb. 2025, 371 average trains per day were run. As a result, Railways have been able to run additional goods and coaching services over its network with better punctuality. Due to the increase in services, both freight and coaching, Indian Railways’ earnings from train services have gone up. Modernisation and upgradation of railway infrastructure is a need based and ongoing process subject to operational requirement, technical feasibility, commercial viability, resource availability, etc. A number of works have been taken up to modernize and upgrade railway infrastructure including rolling stock and signaling system. Some of them are as under: High Horse Power Electric Freight Locomotives, a manufacturing unit, having modern World class manufacturing facilities, sanctioned at Dahod. taken include laying of track structure consisting of 60 kg/90 Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) rails on Pre-stressed Reinforced Concrete (PSC) sleepers with elastic fastening, laying of 130 meter/260 meter longer rails to avoid welding of joints, adoption of better welding technology for rails i.e. Flash Butt Welding, use of thick web switches and Weldable Cast Manganese Steel (WCMS) crossings, using improved fittings, maintenance of track with the help of track machines, Ultrasonic Flaw Detection (USFD) testing of rails, etc. The Average Annual Budget allocation for New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling Projects across Indian Railways is given below: Period Average Outlay Increase w.r.t. average allocation of 2009-14 2009-14 ₹ 11,527 crore/year – 2024-25 68,634 crores Nearly 6 times To increase the freight handling capacity in IR, ‘Gati Shakti Multi- Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT)’ policy has been launched on 15.12.2021 with the objective of increasing investment from industry in development of additional terminals for handling rail cargo. GCTs are also equipped with facility of mechanized loading / unloading which will, contribute in reduction of transit time and costs for business. So far, 97 GCTs have been commissioned which enable additional freight traffic for Railways. Further In-principle approval (IPAs) for 277 proposals for Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals have already been issued. Freight loading and revenue during the last five years: – Year Freight Loading (In million Tonnes) Revenue Earning from Goods (₹ in Crore) 2019-2024 6952.3 7,02,372.29 This information was given by the Union Minister of Railways, Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply in Lok Sabha today. ***** Dharmendra Tewari/Shatrunjay Kumar