Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC)

Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC)

Subject: Geography

Section: Economic geography

Context: ‘95% of Freight Corridors will be ready by March

Completion Status: 95% of the total 2,843-kilometer Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) is expected to be completed by March 2024.

Operational Sections: The 1,337-kilometer EDFC is entirely operational, while approximately 70% of the WDFC is ready for operation.

Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC): Spans 1,337 kilometers from Sahnewal near Ludhiana in Punjab, crossing through Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and ending at Sonnagar in Bihar.

Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC): Connects Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai, covering a 1,506-kilometer route through states such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana.

Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC):

Description: It is a broad gauge corridor that extends for 1,504 kilometers, starting at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and concluding at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust near Mumbai.

Establishment: The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) was established in October 2006 as a dedicated body to oversee the project.

Funding: The project is being funded through a soft loan of $4 billion from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under special terms for economic partnership (STEP).

Key Locations: The corridor passes through Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Phulera, and Rewari, traversing through the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.

Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC):

Route and Coverage: The EDFC spans a route length of 1,856 km, stretching from Dankuni in West Bengal to Ludhiana in Punjab, covering several key states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal.

Railway Infrastructure: The EDFC is a critical railway infrastructure project, dedicated to enhancing the transportation of freight across multiple regions in northern and eastern India.

Components: The corridor is designed with two main components – the first is to augment rail transport capacity, enhance service quality, and enable higher freight throughput, while the second involves institutional development to support DFCCIL and the Ministry of Railways in leveraging heavy haul freight systems.

Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd. (DFCCIL):

Overview: DFCCIL operates as a special purpose vehicle under the Ministry of Railways, responsible for planning and implementing the 3,306 km long Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) across the country.

It is responsible for planning, development, financial resource mobilization, construction, maintenance, and operation of the Dedicated Freight Corridors.

DFCCIL is registered as a company under the Companies Act of 1956, emphasizing its organizational structure and governance.

Project Cost: The total estimated project cost for the DFCs, including the Western and Eastern corridors, amounts to over ₹81,000 crore.

Decongestion and Punctuality: The construction of the DFCs project aims to alleviate congestion on existing saturated paths, thereby improving the punctuality of passenger trains.

Importance of DFCs:

Relieving Traffic Congestion: DFCs are crucial in separating freight and passenger traffic, enhancing the speed of freight movement, and alleviating congestion on the country’s major routes.

Diverse Cargo Transportation: The corridor will be utilized for transporting various commodities such as fertilizers, food grains, salt, coal, iron & steel, and cement.

National Integration: It will be integrated with the Eastern DFC, forming four significant hubs – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata, effectively linking major parts of the country.