Indian Railways’ dedicated freight corridor: 6 things to know

Indian Railways is building dedicated freight corridors to enable the government to run freight trains as per a time schedule. Here are six interesting things about the corridor that you should know.

How long will it take
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) is developing the eastern and western freight corridors with a cumulative length of over 3,000 km.

Why is it important

Currently, freight trains do not get priority over passenger trains. Once completed, at least 70% of the freight trains will be transferred on the DFCCIL network which will help in timely movement of cargo.

Who’s funding it

The Eastern & western dedicated freight corridors entail an investment of $12 billion, with the World Bank and JICA partly funding the project with around $1.86 bn and $5.2 bn respectively.

How will it help businesses?

E-commerce companies like Amazon and Flipkart will be able to transfer freight through railways once the dedicated freight corridor project is complete. Apart from e-commerce, the freight corridor project will also open up doors for the automobile sector

A huge control center

DFCCIL will be monitoring the movement of freight trains at the Operations Control Centre in Prayagraj, which is the second largest in the world after Shanghai, China

Open to private trains

Private containers will also be allowed to use the freight corridor but they have to pay track usage charges.