- Sector: Railways
- Length: 9,129 km (EDFC: 1,856 km; WDFC: 1,504 km; three new corridors: 5,769 km)
- Investment: Rs 2,596 billion (EDFC: Rs 303.58 billion; WDFC: Rs 511.01 billion; three new corridors: Rs 1,781 billion)
- Implementing agency: Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited
- Mode of implementation: EPC (PPP for the Sonnagar-Dankuni section)
- Start date: January 2013 (first civil contract awarded)
- Expected completion: June 2022
After several delays, the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) seems to be finally heading towards completion. The government’s flagship project has covered major ground during the past year. About 56 per cent work on the Western DFC (WDFC) and 60 per cent on the Eastern DFC (EDFC) has been completed. Trial runs have been successfully conducted on the 194 km Khurja-Badhan section of the EDFC and the 306 km Madar-Rewari stretch of the WDFC. While construction of the WDFC and EDFC is under way, the remaining three corridors are at the planning stage. The project is being funded by the Ministry of Railways, JICA and the World Bank. It includes high speed, 1.5 km long trains running at 100 km per hour, double-stack containers transported via electric locomotives, radio communication and GSM-based tracking. The DFC is expected to increase the share of railways in the freight market.