Western Dedicated Freight Corridor

Western Dedicated Freight Corridor
A freight train carrying double stack containers is running on the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC).
Overview
Status1397 km - Operational
109 km - Under construction
(93% Completed[1])
OwnerDFCCIL
Ministry of Railways
LocaleDelhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra
Termini
Service
TypeFreight rail
SystemDFCCIL
Operator(s)Indian Railways
Rolling stockWAG-9, WAG-12
History
Planned openingMarch 2024; 9 months ago (March 2024)[2]
Technical
Line length1,506 km (936 mi)
Track gauge5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) Indian broad gauge
Electrification25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead catenary
Map
Route of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor
Western Dedicated
Freight Corridor
Legend
to Khurja &
Eastern DFC
 Dadri
Uttar Pradesh
Haryana
border
 Prithala
Tughlakabad
Rewari
Narnaul
Haryana
Rajasthan
border
 Sri Madhopur
Ringas
Phulera
for Jaipur
Ajmer
Marwar
Rajasthan
Gujarat
border
 Iqbalgarh
Palanpur
Mahesana
Amli Road
for Ahmedabad
Makarpura
for Vadodara
Sachin
for Surat
Gujarat
Maharashtra
border
 Vasai Road
Jawaharlal Nehru Port

The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor or Western DFC is a 1,506 km long, under-construction 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) freight corridor in India. It will connect Dadri in Uttar Pradesh (near Delhi) with the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Navi Mumbai, Raigad District, Maharashtra. The corridor is being built by the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), a public-sector unit (PSU) under the Ministry of Railways and would be electrified with double-line operation. The Western DFC entails a new single-line branch from Prithla in Palwal district to Tughlakabad in Delhi, running parallel to the existing New Delhi–Faridabad–Palwal railway line.

The Western DFC is exclusively for transporting freight at higher speeds with increased load carrying capacity. The main freight commodities include fertilizers, food grains, salt, coal, iron, steel and cement. It uses Flash Butt Welded head-hardened (HH) 250 m long rails with axle load capacity of 25 t on tracks and 32.5 ton bridges, compared to the existing 22.9 t to 25 t axle load used on Indian Railway tracks. The line will support freight trains reaching 1,500 m (4,900 ft) length, pulled by high-power WAG12 electric locomotives and running at speeds greater than 100 km/h (62 mph). The tracks will be entirely grade-separated and have a generous loading gauge of 3,660 mm (12 ft 1⁄8 in) width and 7,100 mm (23 ft 3+1⁄2 in) maximum height allowing for the double-stacked shipping container on flatcars to be transported, in contrast to wellcars used in other countries for double-stack rail transport.[3] This allows for single trains to have a 400-container capacity. Trains will have radio communications and GSM-based tracking – a first in the Indian railway sector.

The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (Eastern DFC) has a 46 km long branch line, that connects Khurja in Bulandshahr district on Eastern DFC with Dadri in Gautam Buddha Nagar district on the Western DFC.

Meerut is proposed as the largest Logistic Hub on the EDFC due to its nodal connectivity via several expressways. The Western DFC, along with the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway, will be a vital backbone of the Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). The Western DFC will cross the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway at 2 places in Haryana: Sancholi village (Gurgaon district) and Paroli village (Palwal district).

About DFC

Main article: Dedicated freight corridors in India
See also: Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor

The Government of India established the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) on 30 October 2006 to undertake construction of this project.[4]

India's first 2 DFCs, the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra and the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (Eastern DFC) from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni in West Bengal, via Meerut (Logistic Hub) and Khurja are aimed at decongesting the railway network by moving 70% of India's goods train to these two corridors.[5]

Route

The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (Western DFC) will begin at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh (near Delhi) on a new stretch of railway line right of way between Dadri-Rewari and then will run parallel to existing railway lines via Narnaul, Sri Madhopur and Reengus (Sikar). The other important stations will be Phulera and Marwar Junction in Rajasthan, Palanpur, Ambli Road Railway Station near (Sabarmati), Makarpura (Vadodara), Gothangam/ Kosad in Gujarat and Vasai Road in Maharashtra before it terminates at JNPT (Nhava Sheva Port) in Maharashtra's Raigad district.[4] The Dadri-Rewari railway line passes through a 1 km tunnel with 14.5 m width and internal height 10.5 m to 12.5 m to carry double-stacked containers.[6]

Western DFC
State Distance Covered
Haryana 177
Rajasthan 567
Gujarat 565
Maharashtra 177
Uttar Pradesh 18
Total 1504[7]

Construction

The DFCCIL has divided the construction work of the Western DFC into 5 section for contracting purposes.[8]

Western DFC
Section Distance Route Status Project contractor Completion Date
Dadri – Rewari 127 Dadri-Prithla-Rewari (Branch line: Prithla-Palwal and Prithla-Asaoti) Operational L&T-Sojitz consortium[9] 2023 June
Rewari - Madar 306 Rewari-Phulera (near Jaipur)-Ajmer- Operational L&T-Sojitz consortium 2021 January
Madar -Palanpur 353 Marwar-Palanpur Operational L&T-Sojitz consortium 2021 March
Palanpur -Vadodara 299 Palanpur-Mehsana-Ambli Road (near Ahmedabad)-Vadodara Operational L&T-Sojitz-Gayatri Projects consortium 2024 March
Vadodara – Sachin 135 Makarpura (Vadodara)-Sachin (near Surat) Operational Mitsui-IRCON-Tata Projects consortium[10] 2023 August
Sachin – JNPT 295 Sachin (near Surat)-Valsad-Vasai Road-Jawaharlal Nehru Port Under construction / Partially operational Mitsui-IRCON-Tata Projects consortium[10] 2024 December
Total 1,504

Status updates

  • Apr 2005: The project is announced by the then Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh.[11]
  • Oct 2006: The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) is formed by the Ministry of Railways on 30 October.[12]
  • Feb 2008: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approves the Western DFC and the Eastern DFC.[13]
  • Sep 2009: The Union Cabinet approved a loan made by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).[14][15]
  • Jun 2013: The civil construction contract for the Rewari-Palanpur section is awarded by DFCCIL.[16]
  • Aug 2018: The inaugural run of a freight train is successfully conducted along the 190 km segment between the New Ateli and the New Phulera stations.[17]
  • Dec 2019: DFCCIL successfully tested the 306 km stretch between Kishangarh Balawas (Rewari district) and Madar (Ajmer district).[18]
  • Jul 2020: Testing for the 352.7 km Madar to Palanpur stretch was completed.[19]
  • Jan 2021: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 306 km route from New Rewari to New Madar and flagged off the world's first flat wagon double-stacked container train from New Ateli to New Kishangarh on 7 January.[20]
  • Mar 2021: The 335 km long New Madar to New Palanpur section is inaugurated on 31 March.[21]
  • July 2021: About 60% of the Western DFC has been completed.
  • Aug 2021
    • 14 Aug: DFCCIL commences Roll-on-Roll-off (Ro-Ro) service on the Western DFC. The rake consisting of flat wagons proceeded from New Rewari and arrived at New Palanpur, covering a distance of 630 km.
    • 26 Aug: DFCCIL successfully completes a 2.75 km long and 25 m high viaduct near Sohna on the Dadri-Prithla-Rewari section.[22]
  • May 2022: A trial run was started on the section from New Palanpur to New Mehsana on 13 May and was finished on 25 May.[23]
  • Jun 2022: After the trial run, the New Palanpur-New Mehsana is inaugurated and made operational by DFCCIL, which increases the corridor's length to 720 km, from Dadri to Mehsana.[24]
  • Apr 2024: 93% of the route operational, with the 138 km Sanand-Makarpura and 244 km Makarpura-Gholvad sections opened, and the 110 km Gholvad-JNPT section the last one under construction.[25][26]

See also

References

  1. ^ "DFCCIL". dfccil.com.
  2. ^ "Completion targets on India's DFCs likely to be extended". International Railway Journal. 22 April 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  3. ^ UIC – International union of railways (18 November 2015), DFCCIL – Dedicated Freight Corridors Corporation of India Limited, retrieved 1 August 2017
  4. ^ a b Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, India, Railway-technology.com.
  5. ^ Railways' two big ticket projects DFC, bullet train on track despite lockdown: Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav. Economic Times, 6 June 2020.
  6. ^ "World's 1st electrified double-stack container tunnel near Haryana may be operational in a year: Official". The Economic Times. 24 July 2020. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Website".
  8. ^ Das, Mamuni (3 April 2013). "Rlys' reluctance to cede control delays $1-billion World Bank loan". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  9. ^ Tandon, Shubhra (8 August 2016). "Larsen & Toubro set to win Rs 4,000 cr western dedicated freight corridor project". The Financial Express.
  10. ^ a b Kumar, V Rishi (5 January 2016). "Mitsui-led consortium starts work on Western Dedicated Freight Corridor Project". The Hindu Business Line.
  11. ^ "PM lays foundation stone for DFC Project". Hindustan Times. 27 September 2006. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Memorandum and Articles of Association" (PDF). DFCCIL. 30 October 2006.
  13. ^ "CCEA Approval for the DFCs" (PDF). Parivesh (Forest Ministry Clearance), Government of India. 5 March 2008.
  14. ^ "Japanese ODA Loan Agreement Signed WIth India" (PDF). JICA. 26 July 2010.
  15. ^ "Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) under the Special Terms of Economic Partnership (STEP) Scheme of the Government of Japan for the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) Project". Press Information Bureau. 17 September 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  16. ^ Dasgupta, Yashodhara (8 June 2013). "DFCC awards Rs 6,700 crore Rewari-Palanpur contract to Sojitz and L&T". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  17. ^ Bhargava, Yuthika (4 September 2018). "Ateli enters history on a freight train". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
  18. ^ Nandi, Tamal (28 December 2019). "Indian Railways conduct speed tests for trains on dedicated freight corridor". mint. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  19. ^ "DFCCIL Launches trial run from New Palanpur to Durai - Maritime Gateway - South Asia's Premier Shipping and Logistics News Portal". 30 July 2020.
  20. ^ "PM Modi inaugurates Rewari-Madar section of western dedicated freight corridor". The Times of India. 7 January 2021. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  21. ^ "Palanpur-Madar DFC section opened". The Times of India. 1 April 2021.
  22. ^ Nag, Devanjana (26 August 2021). "DFC Project: Engineering marvel in Haryana! 2.75 km viaduct developed on Dadri-Rewari section; see features". Financialexpress. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  23. ^ "DFCCIL". dfccil.com. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  24. ^ "dfc: Number of trains at freight corridors to rise next year: DFC MD - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  25. ^ Law, Abhishek (4 April 2024). "Dedicated freight corridor: Over 90% operational, 138 km to be added by April-end". BusinessLine. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  26. ^ "PM to dedicate 4 new WDFC stations". The Times of India. 11 March 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 8 April 2024.