Western Corridor Expected to Be Completed by 2025, Says DFCC MD RK Jain.

The long-anticipated Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, linking Maharashtra with northern India, is on track to be completed by the end of 2025, marking a major milestone in the dedicated freight corridor project after over a decade of planning.

“The corridor is finished in all states except Maharashtra, where the project has achieved 50% physical progress. We expect the remaining work to be completed by December 2025,” said RK Jain, Managing Director of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCC), on Friday.

The Vaitarna-JNPT section of the Western Corridor, the final segment of the project, faced delays due to issues with the contractor, Tata Projects. Although DFCC issued a termination notice to Tata Projects in 2023, it was later revoked.

Currently, the Railway Ministry's special purpose vehicle (SPV) operates 325 trains per day as of June 2024, a 60% increase from the previous year. The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, which spans Punjab to Bihar, was completed last year and has been crucial for the timely delivery of thermal coal to power plants.

DFCC reports that over 10% of the national transporter's freight volumes are now handled by its network. Jain emphasized that the completion of the DFCs will significantly reduce logistics costs and help the railways achieve a 45% modal share in national logistics.

The corporation is also tasked with planning three future freight corridors: North-South (Itarsi-Vijaywada), East Coast (Kharagpur-Vijaywada), and East-West (Palghar-Dankuni). DFCC has submitted detailed project reports for these corridors to the Ministry of Railways and is awaiting approval.

According to DFCC, the transit time for coal from mines to thermal power plants has decreased from 35 hours to 20 hours. Jain, who has led the organization since 2020, will step down on July 31, with a new managing director appointed to oversee the completion of the Western DFC starting in August.

BS