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Launch of designated freight corridors will increase capacity and reduce costs in the country
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Aaj Tak
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Launch of designated freight corridors will increase capacity and reduce costs in the country

Significant changes occurred in the country's freight transport network on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated an important section of the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) in Vadodara, after which the entire 2843-kilometer DFC network became operational. The completion of the last three sections, totaling about 326 kilometers, allowed the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) of 1506 kilometers to be fully commissioned.

The WDFC stretches from Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai to Dadri near Delhi. With the launch of sections between New Sanand (N)-New Makarpura, New Umbargon-New Safle, and New Safle-JNPT, the entire network of this corridor is now operational. The final stretch from Vaitarna (Safle) to JNPT is also now available for freight trains. This connection will allow for the accelerated delivery of goods arriving from major ports such as Mumbai Port, Pipavav, Mundra, and Kandla to Delhi and major North Indian markets, in addition to JNPT.

WDFC handles the transportation of ISO containers from JNPT, Mumbai Port, Pipavav, Mundra, and Kandla to Inland Container Depots (ICDs) located in Tuglakabad, Dadri, Dhandari Kalan, and Hatuvase. Furthermore, an increase in the transport of commodities such as fertilizers, grains, salt, coal, iron ore, steel, and cement is expected.

The need for a dedicated freight corridor arose due to the prolonged congestion of the country's main railway routes with both passenger and freight trains. On key trunk lines, such as Mumbai-Delhi and Hauzra-Delhi, capacity reached 115–150 percent. Therefore, it was decided to create a separate corridor for freight trains to segregate routes for passenger and freight services and increase the speed of both types of transport.

The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) is the country's second major freight network. This corridor, spanning approximately 1337 kilometers, runs from Ludhiana in Punjab to Sonnagar in Bihar and primarily serves the coal and mineral traffic of Eastern India. Within the EDFC, there is a 936-kilometer electrified double-track section between Sonnagar and Dadri, as well as a 401-kilometer electrified single-track section between Ludhiana (Sahanewal) and Khurja.

One of the significant advantages of the full commissioning of the EDFC in October 2023 is that it bypasses many densely populated cities, including Mirzapur, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Itawu, Firozabad, Tundla, Hathras, Aligarh, Hapur, Meerut, as well as areas like Muzaffarnagar, Ambala, Rajpura, Sarhind, Doraha, and Sahanewal.

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Indian Railways plans four-lane expansion of 11,000 km of the busiest routes
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Indian Railways plans four-lane expansion of 11,000 km of the busiest routes

Indian Railways is preparing to modernize approximately 11,000 kilometers of its high-traffic railway network by converting it into a four-lane system. The goal of this initiative is to increase capacity on the country's busiest rail lines, reduce congestion, and decrease the accumulation of passenger trains and freight wagons. This plan has been developed considering the projected growth in both passenger and freight transport volumes in the future.

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated on Wednesday that there are seven high-traffic railway routes in the country that handle a significant portion of the rail traffic. The total length of these routes is approximately 11,000 kilometers, yet they account for about 41 percent of the country's total rail traffic, while their share in the entire rail sector is only about 16 percent. Vaishnaw also noted that developing rail transport benefits both the environment and the economy.

According to railway data, creating additional lines on these busy corridors will significantly simplify train operations and reduce pressure on existing tracks. These seven key high-traffic routes connect major cities and primary industrial zones across the country, where intensive movement of both passenger and freight trains is observed. Adding extra tracks will help increase capacity for both types of trains.

The direct advantage of transforming a high-traffic network into a four-lane one is the creation of additional capacity for moving a greater number of trains along the same route. This will allow for more efficient management of freight trains alongside passenger services. The presence of extra tracks minimizes the need for trains to wait extensively behind each other. Furthermore, such infrastructure provides the possibility of rerouting traffic onto other lines in case of technical failure or maintenance work.

The modernization of high-traffic routes includes not only increasing capacity but also upgrading train signaling and safety systems. In this regard, the domestic automatic train protection system Kavach 4.0 is being expanded. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw mentioned in a written reply presented in the Lok Sabha on July 22, 2026, that the Kavach 4.0 system has been commissioned over a total area of 2,490 route kilometers on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors.

The new version of Kavach 4.0 includes functions for more accurate train location tracking, providing improved signaling information at major railway stations, and inter-station interfaces via fiber optic cables. The system can also be directly integrated with the existing electronic interlocking system. On the Delhi-Mumbai route, 1,344 route kilometers of Kavach 4.0 were commissioned by July 13, 2026. This figure includes 1,248 route kilometers of the Tilak Bridge-Junction-Cabin-Palwal-Mathura-Nagda-Vadodara-Virar sector, excluding the Mangalamkhudi-Panchpillya section. Additionally, 96 route kilometers of the Vadodara-Ahmedabad sector were commissioned.

The Delhi-Howrah corridor received 1,146 route kilometers commissioned with Kavach 4.0. Among these, 563 route kilometers of the Chipayana-Tundla-Kanpur-Subedarganj sector, passing through Uttar Pradesh, were included. Additionally, 260 route kilometers of the Chhota Ambana-Barddhaman-Howrah sector, 159 route kilometers of Gaya-Sarmathan-Nimiya Ghat, 71 route kilometers of Kanpur-Lucknow, 50 route kilometers of DDY (FOC)-Bhabhua Road, and 43 route kilometers of Sasaram-Fesar were commissioned.

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