Freight Corridors in India

Dedicated freight corridors in India refer to the network developed in form of a broad gauge among freight railway lines that only serve freight trains, making freight transportation in India more efficient and speedier. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India is in charge of the corridor’s design, mobilisation, and development of financial resources, along with its operation, maintenance, and construction.

What exactly is a designated freight corridor?

A Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) is a rail line explicitly designed to transit freight (commodities and goods). DFC, built using cutting-edge technology, ensures speedier travel, increased energy efficiency, lower logistical costs, and environmentally friendly operations.

Freight transportation is significant to the Indian economy. Given its massive contribution of 67 % to railway income, the government has opted to combine cutting-edge technology and expand railway infrastructure through DFC. The overhaul will modernise train infrastructure and increase freight capacity, lowering total costs.

A Dedicated Freight Line is a high-capacity, high-speed railway corridor solely dedicated to freight traffic. It is designed to confirm a better throughput per train and a larger share of the freight market. In addition to world-class infrastructure, DFC ensures:

• Lower logistical costs per unit
• Extremely high energy efficiency
• More rapid transportation
• Real estate development
• Creation of new jobs
• Environmentally-friendly operations
• Why DFC is required in India.

According to the Indian Railways Statistical Publications 2013-14, freight accounts for 67 % of total income. As a result, improvements to the train system were long overdue.

Furthermore, the saturation of existing railway lines has resulted in congestion and a loss of Indian Railways’ freight market share. The freight market share has fallen from 90 per cent in 1950 to 40 per cent in 2017. This has necessitated highly efficient and enhanced design elements to help railways overcome the pressure on existing rail lines and provide cost-effective, more timely, and quicker freight transit.

As a result, the government has announced two DFCs: 

1. The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor 
2. The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor.

Western Dedicated Freight Corridor

The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor connects Dadri in the National Capital Region (NCR) to Mumbai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT). It passes through 6 different states: Delhi NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. It will be a 1,500-kilometer rail line. The government is expected to reveal the development in stages. Initially, 190 km of the route from Dadri (UP) to Phulera (Rajasthan) would be built; however, an announcement has yet to be made.

Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor

The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor runs from Dankuni in West Bengal to Ludhiana in Punjab, passing through the states of Haryana, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. It will be a 1,839-kilometre-long route with dual electrified tracts. However, due to a scarcity of land for expansion, the 400-kilometre route between Khurja and Ludhiana would be a single electrified line.

The effect of the DFC on real estate

DFCs are anticipated to foster transit-oriented development and significantly influence the real estate market, particularly in the commercial, warehousing, and logistics sectors. The expansion will pave the way for logistic parks, investment regions, and industrial districts. This will result in numerous career possibilities and increased demand for affordable housing in the surrounding area. Overall, the completion of these ambitious DFCs would not only be a game-changer for the trains industry but will also assist the real estate market tremendously. Many Greenfield communities along the route are expected to see real estate and infrastructural development.

The Government of India owns the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL),  Ministry of Railways, Indian Railways, and is responsible for the mobilisation, development, and planning of financial resources, as well as the operation, maintenance, and construction of the “Dedicated Freight Corridors” (DFC). In 2006, the DFCCIL was incorporated under the Companies Act of 1956. The first 2 DFCs, the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from Dadri, Uttar Pradesh to JNPT, Mumbai and the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) from Ludhiana, Punjab to Dankuni, West Bengal, will decongest India’s railway network by moving 70 per cent of the country’s goods trains to these two corridors, are both scheduled to be completed by June 2022. As of July 2020, 99 per cent of the needed land for these two has been purchased, and 56 per cent of WDFC and 60 per cent of EDFC are complete.

Other significant Governments of India projects include Make in India, Industrial Corridor, Startup India, Sagarmala, Standup India,  Bharatmala, Digital India, UDAN-RCS, Parvatmala, and BharatNet.

Conclusion

A Devoted Freight Corridor (DFC) is a high-capacity, high-speed rail line dedicated entirely to freight traffic. Speedier travel, improved energy efficiency, cheaper logistical costs, and ecologically friendly operations benefit DFC. Through DFC, the government has chosen to integrate cutting-edge technology with the expansion of railway infrastructure. The repair will update railroad infrastructure, but it will also enhance freight capacity, cutting overall expenses. The development is anticipated to be revealed in phases by the administration. The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC), which runs from Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, to JNPT, is expected to be completed within the next two years. DFCs are expected to encourage transit-oriented development and significantly impact the real estate market. The Ministry of Railways started the dedicated freight corridor (DFC) project. The project aims to develop a safe and efficient freight transportation system. At least 70% of freight trains will be converted to the DFCCIL network once completed, allowing more timely cargo movement. This might lead to additional passenger trains being introduced in the future.