Dedicated freight corridors (DFCs) are key pillars of India’s vision to increase the modal share of rail freight to 45 per cent by 2030. India currently has two DFCs – the Eastern DFC (EDFC), spanning 1,337 km from Ludhiana in Punjab to Sonnagar in Bihar, which has been fully operational since 2023; and the western DFC (WDFC), covering 1,506 km from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra to Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, which is over 90 per cent complete. The last 102 km stretch of the corridor between Vaitarna and JNPT on the WDFC has reached advanced stages of development and is poised for commissioning by March 2026.
Most recently, under Union Budget 2026-27, the government has announced plans to develop a 2,052 km long east-west DFC, connecting Dankuni in West Bengal to Surat in Gujarat. This corridor will strengthen seamless trade flows across east-west regions, decongest existing rail networks and enhance the efficiency of goods transportation, thereby supporting industrial growth and supply chains. As per the government, the existing DFCs are operating at near-saturation levels, handling around 400 freight trains daily, thus increasing demand for additional corridors. Currently, detailed project reports for the east coast DFC (1,115 km) between Kharagpur in West Bengal and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh and the north-south sub-corridor (Vijayawada-Nagpur-Itarsi [975 km]) are also under consideration.
Progress so far
DFCs are being developed to enable Indian Railways (IR) to regain its market share in freight transport (from the current 27 per cent to 45 per cent by 2030) by creating additional capacity and guaranteeing efficient, reliable, safe and cheaper options for mobility to its customers. While the existing DFC network currently constitutes only 4 per cent of the total IR network, it carries around 13 per cent of the total rail freight traffic.
The EDFC is fully operational. This corridor serves as a critical pathway for energy and mineral transportation, facilitating the smooth movement of coal from eastern mines to power plants in the north, as well as steel, cement and agricultural products. Traffic on the EDFC comprises coal, iron and steel, food-grains, containers and fertilisers. Its completion has already provided a significant impetus to the thermal power sector and
industrial clusters.
The current commissioned stretch of the WDFC is used primarily for the export-import of containers, cement, petroleum goods and trucks on trains (ToTs) as well as the transportation of milk from Gujarat to northern India. As of early 2026, the last leg of the corridor is in the final phase of execution, with the connection between Vaitarna and JNPT to be commissioned by March 2026. The WDFC is specifically designed to handle heavy-haul, double-stack container trains. This capability allows a single train to carry twice the cargo of a conventional rail service, significantly lowering the carbon footprint and logistics cost per tonne.
The DFC corridors are engineered to support an axle load of 25 tonnes on tracks along with bridges and foundations designed for a load of 32 tonnes. Further, the maximum permissible speed is 100 kmph, significantly higher than the 75 kmph standard typically maintained on the IR network. To sustain heavy- and long-haul operations, the system utilises a sophisticated 2×25 kV auto transformer(AT) feeding arrangement, which provides the necessary power for expanded throughput. Furthermore, the DFCs have scaled operational efficiency by accommodating train lengths of up to 1,500 m and a total haulage capacity of 13,000 tonnes, as against the 700 m and 5,400 tonne limits observed on the traditional IR network.
The time taken by freight trains on the DFC averages 2.44 hours per 100 km for container trains, compared to 5.25 hours per 100 km on IR. In November 2025, an average of 403 trains per day were operated by the DFCs.
The signalling and telecommunication (S&T) system consists of a train protection and warning system based on the European Train Control System, Level 1 (ETCS L-1), a train management system and a global system for mobile communication for railways. Besides, a state-of-the-art supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system and numerical protection scheme enhance the safety of the power system.
Trucks-on-train
IR has introduced the ToT service across the operational DFC network for multimodal, next-generation logistics transportation. By transporting loaded trucks on specialised flat wagons, the service harmonises the flexibility of road transport with the high-capacity efficiency of rail, resulting in improved transit reliability, shorter turnaround times and lower overall logistics costs.
The ToT service is currently operational on the 636 km stretch between New Rewari and the New Palanpur section of the WDFC, reducing the end-to-end transit time from nearly 30 hours by road to around 12 hours via the ToT service. Freight is charged on transparent weight slabs, ranging from Rs 21,000 to Rs 32,000 per wagon.
During FY 2025 (till December 2025), the ToT service handled a total of 545 rakes, transporting more than 300,000 tonnes of freight and generating revenue of Rs 369.5 million. This includes handling of 273 rakes at New Palanpur, generating revenue of Rs 201.8 million; and 272 rakes at New Rewari, generating Rs 167.6 million. Reportedly, about 48,875 trucks were shifted to rail over the Palanpur-Rewari stretch, leading to estimated diesel savings of about 8.88 million litres, while preventing the emission of approximately 23,091,343 kg of CO2.
Since its inception, the service has completed over 1,955 trips, handled more than a million tonnes of freight, and generated cumulative revenue exceeding Rs 1.31 billion. To ensure future scalability, new-generation wagon designs under the flat multipurpose platform are being developed to transport trucks more efficiently, safely and at higher payloads.
Freight terminals on DFCs
Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) is also developing a robust network of 27 freight terminals along the DFC to facilitate seamless cargo movement. In total, 20 terminals are located on the WDFC and seven on the EDFC. Of these, 12 terminals on the WDFC and four on the EDFC have already been commissioned. These terminals comprise private sidings, private freight terminals and Gati Shakti cargo terminals (GCTs) established under different schemes. In addition, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is developing a terminal near Varanasi, with planned cargo movement up to Haldia port via the Ganges river. The GCTs have been developed under Schedule-1 and Schedule-2 at strategic freight nodes. Schedule-1 GCTs are built on private land at an average project cost of Rs 0.4 billion-Rs 1.2 billion. Further, Schedule-2 GCTs are built on railway land at an average project cost of Rs 100 million-Rs 150 million.
Other initiatives
To promote bulk cement transportation by rail and increase the modal share of rail in cement transportation, DFCCIL invited expressions of interest (EoIs) for the development of bulk cement handling terminals, either entirely or partially on railway or DFCCIL land. Besides, for seamless cargo handling, DFCCIL invited EoI bids for the development of GCTs entirely/partially on railway land under Schedule-2 of the GCT policy; and formal applications for the development of GCTs entirely on non-railway land under Schedule-1 of the policy. This involves the development of 105 GCTs on DFCCIL land and 114 GCTs on private land.
As of December 2025, DFCCIL signed an MoU worth Rs 5.79 billion with the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor and Integrated Industrial Township Greater Noida Limited to develop an internal yard at the multimodal logistics hub in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The scope of work includes the development of 23 yard lines to facilitate freight movement and the construction of five additional yard lines, each 1,500 metres long. It also covers the installation of integrated electrical systems to ensure smooth and seamless yard operations and the provision of advanced S&T infrastructure to enable safe, reliable and efficient rail functioning. With this, the hub will be directly integrated with the DFC network.
Conclusion
The development of DFCs is critical to enhancing IR’s freight efficiency. Currently, India’s high-density and highly utilised railway network, which carries 81 per cent of the country’s freight, faces severe congestion as mixed traffic slows freight trains by nearly half. By shifting up to 70 per cent of freight traffic off existing railway lines, the DFCs will transform passenger travel, freeing up tracks for semi-high-speed trains such as the Vande Bharat Express.
Akanksha Mahajan Marwah with Divyashree Srivastava
