Lok Sabha Question No. 3060 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-19
Subject: Dedicated Freight Corridors for Network Efficiency
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Rajesh Naranbhai Chudasama, Adv. Adoor Prakash, Shri Benny Behanan, Shri Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3060

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.03.2025

## DEDICATED FREIGHT CORRIDORS FOR NETWORK EFFICIENCY

3060. SHRI SAPTAGIRI  SANKAR  ULAKA:

SHRI RAJESH  NARANBHAI  CHUDASAMA:

SHRI BENNY  BEHANAN:

ADV. ADOOR  PRAKASH:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Railways  has  any  proposal  for  new  Dedicated  Freight Corridors and if so, the details thereof;

(b)  the  current  status  of  the  Dedicated  Freight  Corridors  and  their expected completion timelines;

- (c)  the  manner  in  which  the  Railways  is  using  Dedicated  Freight Corridors  (DFCs)  to  increase  freight  carrying  capacity  and  improve overall network efficiency;
- (d) the impact of these corridors on freight transportation efficiency and logistics costs;

(e) whether there is any plan for Dedicated Freight Corridor connecting Southern states including Kerala and if so, the details thereof;

- (f)  the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  modernize  and upgrade the basic infrastructure, rolling stock and signalling systems of the Railways;
- (g) the financial outlay allocated for railway infrastructure expansion in FY 2025;
- (h)  the  manner  in  which  Gati  Shakti  Multi-Modal  Cargo  Terminals contribute to increase the modal share of railways in the Cargo sector; and

- (i)  the  key  statistics  related  to  freight  loading  and  revenue for  the  last five years?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

Ministry of Railways has undertaken the work of preparation of Detailed Project  Reports  (DPR)  for  following  three  (03)  new  Dedicated  Freight Corridors (DFCs).

- (i) East-Coast Corridor: Kharagpur to Vijayawada
- (ii) East-West corridor:
- (a) Palghar-Bhusawal-Nagpur-Kharagpur-Dankuni
- (b) Rajkharsawan - Kalipahari - Andal
- (iii) North-South Sub-corridor: Vijayawada-Nagpur-Itarsi

DPRs of above three corridors are under examination.

None  of  the  above  three  DFCs  have  been  sanctioned  yet.  The  DFC Projects are highly capital intensive and the final decision regarding the sanction  of  any  DFC  Project  depends  upon  many  factors  such  as technical  feasibility,  financial  &  economic  viability,  traffic  demand  and availability of funds & financial options etc.

Dedicated  Freight  Corridor  (DFC)  Project  will  have  positive  impact  on transportation and logistic sector as it will enable enhanced movement of  Double  Stack  Container  (DSC)  trains,  higher  axle  load  trains,  faster access of northern hinterland by Western Ports and development of new terminals/linkages with industries along the DFC. The Eastern DFC will mostly cater to mineral traffic from Eastern India. These developments will enable reduction in logistic cost.

DFC  has  contributed  to  creating  additional  paths  on  the  conventional network by diverting freight traffic to EDFC and WDFC. Traffic on DFC has increased  from  247  average  trains  per  day  in  2023-24  to  352  average trains per day in 2024-25 (till Feb.2025). In Feb. 2025, 371 average trains per day were run. As a result, Railways have been able to run additional goods  and  coaching  services  over  its  network  with  better  punctuality. Due  to  the  increase  in  services,  both  freight  and  coaching,  Indian Railways' earnings from train services have gone up.

(f):  Modernisation  and  upgradation  of  railway  infrastructure  is  a  need based and ongoing process subject to operational requirement, technical feasibility, commercial viability, resource availability, etc.

A number of works have been taken up to modernize and upgrade railway infrastructure  including  rolling  stock  and  signalling  system.  Some  of them are as under:

1. Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) has been introduced in 201718,  for  replacement/renewal/upgradation  of  critical  safety  assets, with a corpus of ₹1 lakh crore for five years. Currency of the Fund has been extended for another five year term beyond 2021-22 with GBS  support  of  ₹45,000  Cr.  An  outlay  of  ₹  12800  Cr  has  been provided in RE 2024-25.
2. Electrical/Electronic Interlocking Systems with centralized operation of  points  and  signals  have  been  provided  at  6623  stations  upto 28.02.2025.
3. Interlocking of Level Crossing (LC) Gates has been provided at 11089 level  Crossing  Gates  up  to  28.02.2025  for  enhancing  safety  at  LC Gates.
4. Block Proving Axle Counters (BPACs) systems have been provided on 6126 Block Sections up to 28.02.2025.
5. Automatic block Signalling (ABS) has been provided at 5221 Route Kms upto 28.02.2025.
6. Indian Railway has also gone for implementation of advance technology system 'Kavach' as an Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system. Kavach is indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system which required safety certification of

- highest  order.  Kavach  has  also  been  adopted  as  a  National  ATP system in July 2020.
7. Crew Video and Voice Recording System (CVVRS) has been provided in Locomotives for post event analysis
8. Head  on Generation (HOG) scheme  has  been  implemented  in passenger  locomotives  for  feeding  electric  supply  to  LHB  coaches for  train  lighting  and  air  conditioning  thereby  reducing  carbon emission, noise level and consumption of fossil fuels.
- Railways    has    taken    long  term  plan  to  acquire  new    technology 12000  HP  electric locomotives and 9000 HP electric locomotives for freight operation.  For  manufacturing new technology based 9000 High  Horse  Power  Electric  Freight  Locomotives,  a  manufacturing unit, having modern World class manufacturing facilities, sanctioned
9. at Dahod.
- With  a  view  to  increase  throughput,  RDSO  has  issued  technical specification  for  modern  wagons  (Modern  Open  Wagon  &  Modern Brake  Van).  In  the  recent  past,  multi-purpose  and  higher  carrying capacity wagons have been designed by RDSO. These wagons will help in better utilization of rolling  assets and increased throughput
10. per rake.
11. Introduction of IGBT based 3-phase propulsion system with regenerative braking in Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) trains, Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) trains, Kolkata Metro rakes and Electric Train Sets.
12. Provision  of  750  V  external  power  supply  at  washing/sick  lines  for maintenance  and  testing  of  LHB  coaches  resulting  in  significant saving of diesel.
13. In  order  to  modernize  and  upgrade  the  track  structure, the steps taken include laying of track structure consisting of 60 kg/ 90 Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) rails on  Pre-stressed  Reinforced Concrete (PSC) sleepers with elastic fastening, laying of 130 meter/260 meter longer rails to avoid welding of joints, adoption of better  welding  technology  for  rails  i.e.  Flash  Butt  Welding,  use  of thick  web  switches  and  Weldable  Cast  Manganese  Steel (WCMS)

crossings,  using  improved  fittings,  maintenance  of  track  with  the help of track machines, Ultrasonic Flaw Detection (USFD) testing of rails, etc.

14. In order to facilitate easy movement of elderly, sick, differently abled passengers and for smooth access to platforms of railway stations and  for  ease  of  movement,  Lifts  and  Escalators  are  provided depending on the relative priority of stations, availability of resources and techno-economic feasibility.
2. (g): The Average Annual Budget allocation for New  Line,  Gauge Conversion and Doubling Projects across Indian Railways is given below:
3. (h):  To  increase  the  freight  handling  capacity  in  IR,  'Gati  Shakti  MultiModal  Cargo  Terminal  (GCT)'  policy  has  been  launched  on  15.12.2021 with the objective of increasing investment from industry in development of  additional  terminals  for  handling  rail  cargo.  GCTs  are  also  equipped with facility of mechanized loading / unloading which will, contribute in reduction of transit  time  and  costs  for  business.  So  far,  97  GCTs  have been commissioned which enable additional freight traffic for Railways. Further  In-principle  approval  (IPAs)  for  277  proposals  for  Gati  Shakti Cargo Terminals have already been issued.
4. (i): Freight loading and revenue during the last five years:-

| Period   | Average Outlay      | Increase w.r.t. average allocation of 2009-14   |
|----------|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹ 11,527 crore/year | -                                               |
| 2024-25  | 68,634 crore        | Nearly 6 times                                  |

| Year      |   Freight Loading (In million Tonnes) | Revenue Earning From Goods ( ₹ in Crore)   |
|-----------|---------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| 2019-2024 |                                6952.3 | 7,02,372.29                                |

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