As per NITI Ayog, India is presently transporting 4.6 billion tonnes of freight annually, generating transport demand of 2.2 trillion tonne-km at the cost of Rs 9.5 lakh crore. India’s total freight movement predominantly relied on railways, with approximately 40% of the country’s total freight transported by rail.
Indian Railways have prepared a National Rail Plan (NRP) for India – 2030. The Plan is to create a ‘future ready’ Railway system by 2030. The objective of the Plan is to create capacity ahead of demand, which in turn would also cater to future growth in demand right up to 2050 and also increase the modal share of Railways to 45% in freight traffic and to continue to sustain it.
Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC) is a high speed and high capacity railway corridor that is exclusively meant for the transportation of freight or in other words goods and commodities. DFC involves the seamless integration of better infrastructure and state of the art technology.
Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) – 1337 Kms, stretches from Sahnewal (Ludhiana) in Punjab to Dankuni in West Bengal and covers the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The majority of EDFC is being funded by the World Bank.
The entire 1337-kilometre EDFC is now declared operational, marking a significant step in India’s infrastructure development. The first commercial service on this route is scheduled to commence on November 1 2023. This achievement is crucial in enhancing the efficiency of freight transportation across the country.
Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) – 1506 Kms, Stretches from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai and covers the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The Japan International Cooperation Agency is the major funding authority for WDFC.
Around 1280+ kilometres of the total 1,506-kilometre-long WDFC, connecting the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT) in Mumbai to Dadri is completed as of now. The trial run is also done on one of its sections which is likely to be operational by the end of this fiscal year.
DFCCIL will run freight train at the maximum speed of 100 km/per hour as against the current maximum speed of 75 kmph on Indian Railway tracks whereas the average speed of freight trains will also be increased from existing speed of 26 kmph on Indian Railways lines to 70 kmph on Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC). The DFC project is strategically aligned with the National Rail Plan, which sets a bold objective: to increase the railway’s modal share in India from the existing 28 per cent to an impressive 44 per cent by the year 2051.
Each kilometre-long freight train on the EDFC will replace some 72 trucks on average. This will ease congestion on India’s overcrowded roads and highways, which carry an overwhelming 60 per cent of the country’s freight, and make the roads safer, as per a World Bank report. The DFC once constructed will decongest the railways’ network by moving 70 per cent of goods trains to these two corridors. The new electrified freight-only railway lines will allow trains to haul higher loads faster, cheaper, and more reliably than before, enabling the railways to make a quantum leap in their operational performance.
The main objectives of DFC are:
Innovations and State-of-the-art Technology in DFC:
These corridors are expected to boost industrial activities and facilitate the development of new industrial hubs and townships. The logistic sector will also benefit from the development of New Freight terminals, Multimodal Logistic Parks and Inland Container Depots creating direct and indirect employment in the project-influence areas. This project will not only benefit India but also has the potential to serve as a model for other nations looking to enhance their freight transportation systems with sustainability at the forefront. Aiming to reduce logistics costs from the current 15 percent of GDP to a more sustainable 8 per cent by 2030, it will realise Indian Railway’s ambitious objective of achieving a freight loading capacity of 3,000 MT by 2030.
Author : Rangam Trivedi
Author Description : Rangam Trivedi has pursued his post graduation in transportation engineering. Along with it he pursued M.A. in political science as well as public policy analysis from London School of Economics. He is a young social contributor, researcher and an author.
Disclaimer : The views, thoughts, or opinions expressed in this blogs belong solely to the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of author’s employer, organisation, committee or any other group or individual.
