Emerging as a cost-effective conduit for milk transport, the dedicated freight corridor is ensuing faster transportation of dairy products to National Capital Region (NCR) from Gujarat.
A large portion of Delhi-NCR’s dairy requirements is fulfilled from plants located in Gujarat. Approximately 35 lakh litre of milk is supplied daily by Banas and Mehsana dairy etc around Palanpur area.
Earlier, Indian Railways was undertaking transportation of milk through efficient deployment of rail milk tanks, in a dedicated circuit between Palanpur in Gujarat and Delhi-NCR area.
With the operationalisation of western dedicated freight corridor (WDFC) from New Dadri (in Uttar Pradesh) to Sanand (near Ahmedabad in Gujarat), the transportation of milk-tank wagons has benefitted significantly.
The transit time has been slashed drastically, ensuring efficient and reliable movement of essential commodities.
The transit time for Millennium (Milk) trains for Banas Dairy from DFC New Palanpur station/Gujarat to Palwal in Haryana, covering a distance of about 855 km, has been reduced to 14.49 hours from the previous 23.29 hours on Indian Railways’ alignment, a saving of 37.23 per cent in the month of July 2023.
Now the milk trains originate from New Palanpur and run on the WDFC upto New Prithla in Haryana. From here, these then move on to Indian Railways’ alignment before terminating at Hind Terminals multi-modal logistics park in Palwal.
Time saving is especially significant for a perishable commodity like milk, and establishing DFC as a credible and cost-effective mode for transportation of dairy products is living upto its moniker of a real gamechanger, a statement from DFCCIL said.
Currently, about 2,196 km (77.2 per cent ) of DFC has been commissioned. Freight trains are operating on these sections augmenting the freight network capacity of Indian Railways.
Construction work on the remaining sections is at an advanced stage and balance sections are targeted for commissioning within a year.
An average of 135 trains run per day on the eastern DFC and 80 trains per day on WDFC. DFC has also achieved the milestone of running a cumulative one lakh trains on its alignment as on 26 May, 2023.