As much as 60 per cent of the dedicated freight corridors have been commissioned as on 31 January 2023, according to the latest progress report on the crucial railway lines.
Indian Railways has undertaken a mega-infrastructure project of two Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC) namely Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors (EDFC & WDFC) to facilitate faster evacuation of freight traffic.
The 1,506-km-long WDFC runs from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal in Maharashtra, whereas, the 1,337-km-long EDFC runs from Ludhiana in Punjab to Sonnagar in West Bengal.
A total route length of 1,724 km (861 km of EDFC and 863 km of WDFC) has been commissioned out of total 2,843 km till 31 January 2023.
Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC)
The WDFC connects Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai while traversing through five states of UP (18 km), Haryana (177 km), Rajasthan (565 km), Gujarat (565 km) and Maharashtra (177 km).
The western corridor covers a distance of 1,504 km through double line electric (2 X 25 KV) track from JNPT to Dadri via Vadodara-Ahmedabad-Palanpur-Phulera-Rewari. The Western DFC is proposed to join the Eastern DFC at Dadri.
Alignment has been generally kept parallel to existing lines except provision of detour at Diva, Surat, Ankleshwar, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Phulera and Rewari. However, it is entirely on a new alignment from Rewari to Dadri.
Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC)
The EDFC with a route length of 1,337 km starts from Sahnewal near Ludhiana (Punjab) and passes through Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and terminates at Sonnagar in Bihar.
The Eastern Corridor will traverse through four states with maximum length in Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana having the least coverage.
Also, a 538-km stretch between Sonnagar in Bihar and Dankuni in West Bengal is to be executed under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) which is implementing the project has sent a proposal to the Railway Ministry recommending the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM), on the lines of viability gap funding (VGF).