Western Dedicated Freight Corridor

The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) is a broad gauge freight corridor under construction in India by Indian Railways. It will connect India's capital, Delhi, and its economic hub, Navi Mumbai. This corridor will cover a distance of 1483 km and would be electrified with double line operation.

Western Dedicated Freight Corridor
Overview
Status306 km Operational , Partly Under Construction
OwnerIndian Railways
LocaleUttar Pradesh, Delhi NCT, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra
TerminiDadri, Uttar Pradesh, near Delhi
JNPT, Navi Mumbai
Service
TypeFreight rail
Operator(s)DFCCIL
Technical
Line length1,483 km (921 mi)
Track gauge5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) Indian broad gauge
Western Dedicated Freight corridor
 to Khurja (Connect to Eastern DFC)
 Dadri, Greater Noida
 Haryana - Uttar Pradesh Border
 Prithala
Tughlakabad
 Narnaul
 Rewari
 Rajasthan - Haryana Border
 Ringas
 Phulera (for Jaipur)
 Ajmer
 Marwar
 Gujarat - Rajasthan Border
 Iqbalgarh
 Palanpur
 Mahesana
 Amli Road (for Ahmedabad)
 Makarpura (Vadodara)
 Sachin (for Surat)
 Maharashtra - Gujarat Border
 Vasai Road
 JNPT

Western DFC is exclusively for transporting the freight at higher speed with increased load carrying capacity. Main freight includes fertilisers, food grains, salt, coal, iron, steel and cement. It uses Flash Butt Welded head-hardened (HH) 250m-long rails with track's axle load capacity of 32.5t compared to the existing 25t axle load used on Indian rail tracks. Government of India established the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) in 2006 to undertake construction of this project.[1]

WDFC entails a new single line branch from Pirthala to Tughlakabad running parallel to existing Delhi - Mathura main passenger line. The Route from Rewari to Dadri and Khurja junction is entirely a new line. "Western DFC" meets Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) at Khurja.

Construction history and current status

India's first 2 DFCs, Western Dedicated Freight Corridor from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai in Maharashtra and Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni in West Bengal, are aimed at decongesting railway network by moving 70% of India's goods train to these two corridors. Both on track for completion by December 2021.[2]

In August 2018, DFCCIL successfully conducted inaugural run of Indian Railways freight train on 15 August 2018 between 190 Route km long New Ateli - New Phulera stations of WDFC.[3]

In December 2018, DFCCIL successfully tested 306 km stretch between Kishangarh Balawas (Rewari) and Madar(Ajmer). This 306 km includes Ateli to Phulera distance. 306 km route commenced operations on 7 jan 2021.

In July 2020, testing for Madar to Palanpur stretch of 352.7 Km was completed.[4] 99% required land for these 2 have been acquired, and 56% of WDFC and 60% of EDFC were complete as of July 2020.[2]

Route

The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor will begin at Dadri near Delhi in the state of Uttar Pradesh covering a new patch of railway between Dadri - Rewari and then will run parallel to existing line via Narnaul, Ringas. The other important station will be Phulera and Marwar Junction in Rajasthan, Palanpur, Amli Road (Sabarmati), Makarpura (Vadodara), Gothangam / Kosad in Gujarat and Vasai Road in Maharashtra before it terminates at JNPT at Nhava-Sheva near Navi Mumbai in state of Maharashtra.[1]

Western DFC
State Distance Covered
Haryana 177
Rajasthan 567
Gujarat 565
Maharashtra 177
Uttar Pradesh 18
Total 1504[5]

Construction

This corridor is divided into multiple section for contracting purposes.[6]

Western DFC
Section Distance Route Status Project contractor Completion Date
Dadri - Rewari 141 Dadri-Rewari Under Construction L&T-Sojitz Consortium[7] December 2021
Rewari - Iqbalgarh (Palanpur) 641 Rewari-Phulera (near Jaipur)-Ajmer-Marwar-Iqbalgarh Partly Operational Between Rewari to Ajmer (Madar)[8] L&T-Sojitz Consortium. March 2021
Iqbalgarh (Palanpur) - Vadodara 304 Iqbalgarh-Palanpur-Mehsana-Amli Road (near Ahmadabad)-Vadodara Under Construction L&T, Sojitz & Gayatri Projects Consortium September 2021
Vadodara - Sachin 163 Vadodara-Sachin Under Construction Mitsui-IRCON-Tata Consortium[9] June 2022
Sachin - JNPT 265 Sachin-Valsad-Vasai Road-Jawaharlal Nehru Port Under Construction Mitsui-IRCON-Tata Consortium[9]
Total 1504

See also

References
  1. Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, India,Railway-technology.com.
  2. Railways' two big ticket projects DFC, bullet train on track despite lockdown: Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav. Economic Times, 6 June 2020.
  3. Bhargava, Yuthika (4 September 2018). "Ateli enters history on a freight train" – via www.thehindu.com.
  4. DFCCIL launches trial run
  5. "Website".
  6. Das, Mamuni (3 April 2013). "Rlys' reluctance to cede control delays $1-billion World Bank loan". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  7. Tandon, Shubhra (8 August 2016). "Larsen & Toubro set to win Rs 4,000 cr western dedicated freight corridor project". The Financial Express.
  8. https://www.livemint.com/news/india/pm-modi-inaugurates-rewari-madar-freight-corridor-section-why-is-it-important-11610000313141.html
  9. Kumar, V Rishi (5 January 2016). "Mitsui-led consortium starts work on Western Dedicated Freight Corridor Project". The Hindu Business Line.
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