Indian Railways Commissions Over 96 Per Cent Of Eastern And Western Dedicated Freight Corridors

The Railways has commissioned over 96 per cent section of the two Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs): the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) and the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC), the Parliament was told on Wednesday (30 July).

The EDFC, which runs from Ludhiana to Sonnagar (1,337 km), and the WDFC, from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT) to Dadri (1,506 km), are part of a significant infrastructure initiative aimed at enhancing freight transport across India.

As of now, a total of 2,741 kilometers (96.4 per cent) out of the total 2,843 kilometers of the DFCs have been commissioned and are operational, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

The remaining sections are under construction, he added.

"The Ministry of Railways has taken up construction of two Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC) viz. Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) from Ludhiana to Sonnagar (1337Km) and the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT) to Dadri (1506 Km). Out of total 2843 Km, 2741 Route Km (96.4%) has been commissioned and operational. The work in balance section has been taken up," Vaishnaw said.

The government is also focusing on expanding the railway network to further increase freight loading capacity and and run more passenger and freight trains.

This includes the commissioning of new lines, gauge conversion, and track doubling projects, which collectively cover a length of 35,966 kilometers, with 12,769 kilometers already commissioned.

As of 1 April 2025, the Indian Railways has sanctioned 431 infrastructure projects, including 154 New Line, 33 Gauge Conversion and 244 Doubling, costing approximately Rs 6.75 lakh crore.

Further, the Railways Minister said that over 110 Gati Shakti terminal have been commissioned in the country.

The Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals (GCTs) are specialized logistics hubs established under the Indian government's PM Gati Shakti initiative. Their primary objective is to enhance the efficiency of freight transportation by facilitating seamless multimodal connectivity.

“112 new Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals (GCT) have been commissioned in a short span of time since policy launch in Dec 2021.”

"A large number of other GCTs proposals are already approved by the respective Zonal Railways, and the projects are in various stages of execution/construction and expected to be completed within the timeframe prescribed under the policy," the minister added.

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