Seventy-eight per cent of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) has been completed, the Parliament was informed last week.
Responding to a question by BJP MP Rambhai Harjibhai Mokariya, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Rajya Sabha that 1,176 route kilometres (RKM) of 1,506-km Western DFC is complete and work is under way on the remaining 330 route kilometres.
The WDFC is one of the two dedicated freight corridors (DFCs), being built by the Indian Railways to facilitate faster evacuation of freight traffic, the other being Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC).
Traversing through Uttar Pradesh (18 km), Haryana (177 km), Rajasthan (565 km), Gujarat (565 km) and Maharashtra (177 km), the Western DFC will will establish a seamless link from Dadri in UP to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Maharashtra and will meet the Eastern DFC at Khurja in Uttar Pradesh.
In Gujarat, the WDFC passes through Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Patan, Banas Kantha, Anand, Kheda, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Valsad and Navsari districts.
Reports in a section of media had earlier claimed that 1,279 km of the WDFC has been completed.
However, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) — a subsidiary of the Indian Railways and a special purpose vehicle set up to implement the project — later clarified that the correct figure is 1,176 km which the minister presented in Parliament.
The longest stretch on the WDFC — 938 km between Dadri and Sanand in Gujarat — became operational in September 2023, resulting in seamless freight transportation from the hinterland of UP to the western ports of India.
Barring a 109-km stretch between Vaitarna (river in Maharashtra) and JNPT, the remaining alignment of the western corridor is targeted for completion this fiscal year.