Thededicated freight corridors in India are a network ofelectric[1]broad gaugefreight railway lines that solely serve freight trains, thus making the freight service inIndia faster and efficient.[2] TheDedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) apublic sector company is responsible for undertaking planning, development, mobilisation of financial resources and construction, maintenance and operation of these corridors.
Infiscal year 2024, an average of 241 trains used the dedicated freight corridors daily.[3]
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The TenthFive Year Plan (2002–07) projected that freight traffic in India would rise from 489 million tons in 2001–02 to 624 million tons by 2006–07, growing at a rate of 5% annually. The mid-term appraisal of the Tenth Five Year Plan suggested building dedicated freight corridors (DFC) ontrunk routes. The objective of the DFC was to separate freight traffic from passenger traffic on high density routes in order to improve operational efficiency, reduce cost of operation and carry higher volumes of freight traffic.[4]
In April 2005, the government proposed building DFCs along theGolden Quadrilateral. The Committee on Infrastructure established a task force in May 2005 to prepare a concept paper on theEastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) and theWestern Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC). TheMinistry of Railways appointedRITES in July 2005 to conduct a feasibility and preliminary engineering cum traffic survey for both corridors. The Government also sought support from Japan for technical cooperation to assist in assessing the feasibility of the DFCs. Japan agreed to conduct a feasibility study on the project in November 2005.[4]
RITES submitted its feasibility report on the project in January 2006. TheUnion Cabinet granted in-principle approval to the project the next month. TheDedicated Freight Corridors Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), apublic sector company to build and operate the DFCs, was incorporated on 30 October 2006. RITES submitted the preliminary engineering cum traffic survey for the project in January 2007. TheJapan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) completed a feasibility study on the project in October 2007, and subsequently agreed to provide funding for the WDFC. The Ministry of Railways approached theWorld Bank to provide funding for the EDFC in 2008. In May 2011, the World Bank agreed to provide funds for a 1,183 km section of the EDFC connecting Ludhiana with Mughalsarai.[4] The Union Cabinet approved both corridors in February 2008 with a target completion date of 2013.[4]
Under the EleventhFive Year Plan of India (2007–12), theMinistry of Railways started constructing a new Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) in two long routes, namely the Eastern and Western freight corridors.[5] The two routes cover a total length of 3,260 kilometres (2,030 mi), with theEastern Dedicated Freight Corridor stretching fromLudhiana inPunjab toDankuni inWest Bengal and theWestern Dedicated Freight Corridor fromJawaharlal Nehru Port inMumbai (Maharashtra) toDadri inUttar Pradesh.[6] Upgrading of transportation technology, increase in productivity and reduction in unit transportation cost are the focus areas for the project.[7]
The construction of Eastern Freight Corridor has been completed by February 2024.[8][9]
As of April 2024, Eastern Freight Corridor is fully operational whereas Western Freight Corridor has 85% operational status. Overall 90% of the network is operational. 300 trains run on the lines every day. The operational rate shall reach 95% by April-end.[10]
The Detailed Project Review (DPR) of North-South and East-Coast Freight Corridor are being prepared has been submitted whereas the DPR for East-West DFC will be submitted by April-end (2024). The combined project value is expected to be Rs. 2 lakh crore.[11]
In 2007, India set a world record with the indigenously designed high-risepantograph byStone India Ltd,[12] developed for the use in dedicated freight corridors and other freight routes.[13] with many other added features, such as twin catenary height of 6 and 7.5 meters, auto upward-force adjustment to improve effective current collection in adverse conditions, thereby enabling reduction in energy consumption and allowing trains to run at much higher speeds.[14]
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WAG-12 locomotive is a class of Indian multi-frame electric locomotive that was developed in 2017 byAlstom. With a horsepower of 12,000 hp it is one of the most powerful locomotives in the world. These locomotives are being used on the existing dedicated freight corridors.[15]WAG-9HH locomotive is a 9000 hp single-frame electric locomotive developed byChittaranjan Locomotive Works to be used in Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC). The WAG-9 series are quite similar to theWAP-7 class locomotive but features a different gear ratio, which makes it suitable for heavy freight operations. They are also the freight-dedicated three-phase AC locomotives in the country fitted with IGBT.[16]
The Western DFC will have special head-hardened (HH) 250m-long rails welded using flash butt welding machines. The axle load of the track will be 32.5t compared to the existing 25t axle load used on Indian rail tracks.[17]
As of December 2019, in the commissioned sections, a total of 4000 trains have been run.Some of the trains in the section are achieving the average speed of 99.38 kmph in EDFC and the average speed is 89.50 kmph in WDFC.[18][19][20] Since its inauguration, on average 150 to 200 freight trains are running daily maintaining the average speed between 75 and 80 kmph with operational speeds of 99 kmph. DFCC officials say that their target is to increase the operation to 300 trains daily with an average speed of 90 kmph, previously trials have been completed on sections with 99 kmph not on entire route.[21]
Operational
Partly opened
Approved
Proposed
| Corridor | Length | Status | Start point | Termination point | Logistics hub |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern | 1,337 km (831 mi) | Operational[22] | Ludhiana | Dankuni | Meerut |
| Western | 1,504 km (935 mi) | Partly operational | Dadri | JNPT, Nava Sheva | |
| East-West | 2,000 km (1,200 mi) | Announced in Budget 2021–22[23] | Dankuni | Bhusawal | |
| North-South | 975 km (606 mi) | Announced in Budget 2021–22[24] | Vijayawada | Itarsi | |
| East Coast | 1,115 km (693 mi) | Announced in Budget 2021–22 | Kharagpur | Vijayawada | |
| Southern | 892 km (554 mi) | Proposed | Madgaon | Chennai | |
| Total | 7,823 km (4,861 mi) | 2/6 |
GQFC has six DFCs; two are being implemented and the funding for the remaining four was approved in January 2018. The rail tracks linking the four largest metropolitan cities ofDelhi,Mumbai,Chennai andKolkata, and the two diagonals ofNorth-South Dedicated Freight Corridor (Delhi-Chennai) andEast-West Dedicated Freight Corridor (Kolkata-Mumbai) are called theGolden Quadrilateral (GQFC). These carry 55% of the India Railway's freight traffic over a total 10,122 km (6,290 mi) route length. The line capacity utilisation on the existing highly saturated shared trunk routes ofHowrah-Delhi on theEastern Corridor andMumbai-Delhi on theWestern Corridor varies between 115% and 150%. The surging requirement for the power generation requiring heavy coal movement, booming infrastructure construction and growing international trade has led to the conception of the GQFCs.Carbon emission reduction from DFCs will help DFCCIL claim carbon credits.[25][26]
The dedicated freight corridors aim to bring down the cost of freight transport (by using electricity, longer trains with more capacity can be operated, plus the western DFC utilises double stacking to transport more containers), thus helping Indian industries to become competitive in the world export market.[27] These corridors will also help India achieve the targets it has committed to in theParis Climate Accords, by switching from diesel propelled freight trains and fossil fuel-based road traffic to the electricity based railway locomotives. India is growing in renewable energy production, with most of the country's new electricity generation capacity being added through solar, wind and nuclear sources.[28]
Goods trains on the dedicated freight corridor are running at average journey speeds higher than Rajdhani trains, with one clocking a record average of 99.38 kmph. 3,077 trains ran on EDFC; the maximum speed so far was 97.85 kmph before the milestone was reached. On WDFC, the maximum speed of the 837 trains was 89.50 kmph.[19]
The new generationpantograph allows an increase in the height of the overhead wires (catenary height) from the standard 6 meters (19 ft8+1⁄4 in) to7.45 meters (24 ft5+1⁄4 in),[29] setting the world record for the "high reach pantograph for highest catenary for electric locomotives". This will also enable Indian railways to introducedouble-decker passenger trains in high-density suburban passenger route andRORO cargo service across the Indian railways network. The Indian passenger railway network will be able to run semi-high speed and high-speed trains in the existing network, as 70% of cargo traffic will migrate to the dedicated freight corridors. It will also increase the distance between track centers to 5.3 m (17 ft 5 in), allowing larger out-of-gauge trains. Only low platforms will be permissible.
TheEastern DFC may not be able to support RORO as it has height of5.1 meters (16 ft8+3⁄4 in) compared to7.1 meters (23 ft3+1⁄2 in) of theWestern DFC. TheKonkan Railway is the only railway zone in India that has streamlined the RORO service and is able to save 75 million litres ofdiesel fuel and related foreign exchange for the country.[30] RORO services are deployed in theEast Central Railway andNortheast Frontier Railway zones along with Konkan railway, but RORO has failed to be successful in existing electrical railway infrastructure because of the height of the overhead electrical wires.[31][32]
TheUttar Pradesh government has announced the creation of large logistic parks inMeerut andKhurja due to their proximity to theGanga Expressway and their location on the line of theEastern Dedicated Freight Corridor. These areas are set to become major logistical hubs, with access to key transportation networks enhancing their connectivity and facilitating efficient movement of goods.[33]
Ashok Agarwal, national president of theIndian Industries Association (IIA), mentioned during theUP Investors Summit that numerous inquiries had been received regarding land allotment along theGanga Expressway, particularly from investors interested in theMeerut,Budaun, and adjoining areas. This surge in interest highlights the significant potential of the region for industrial development and investment.[34]
HDN 1 – Delhi Howrah Main Route via Prayagraj, Mughalsarai and Gaya: Majority of the sections of HDN 1 are operating beyond their capacity in terms of number of trains/days which is causing congestion, delay in passenger operations and enormous delay in freight operations. *Capacity Utilization of 100–150%: 81% share of the network
HDN 3 – Delhi to Mumbai via Kota, Bharatpur, Ratlam, Ahmedabad and Vadodara: HDN 3 – Delhi to Mumbai via Kota, Bharatpur, Ratlam, Ahmedabad and Vadodara *Capacity Utilization of 100–150%: 83% share of the network
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