In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, the minister said that the ministry of railways has taken up construction of two dedicated freight corridors (DFC) - 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 Kms.).
Vaishnaw added that the construction of dedicated freight corridors will offer higher transport output and carrying capacity due to faster transit of freight trains, running of double stack container trains and heavy haul trains due to which the unit cost of freight transport will get reduced substantially. “There will be savings in the logistics costs."
He said that this will also improve supply chain for industries/logistics players located in DFC’s catchment areas leading to growth of EXIM traffic as well.
The minister added that the advantages of DFCs will promote industrial activities in the region by leveraging the industrial corridors/townships implemented along the DFC route. “Development of new freight terminals, multimodal logistics parks and inland container depots along both eastern and western DFC are in different stages of implementation."
Dedicated freight corridor is meant to create a safe and efficient freight transportation system in the country. Freight trains do not get priority over passenger trains. Once the corridor is complete, at least 70% of the freight trains will be transferred on the DFCCIL network which will help in timely movement of cargo.
