Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India

The Tenth Five Year Plan (2002–07) projected that freight traffic in India would rise from 489 million tons in 2001–02 to 624 million tons by 2006–07, growing at a rate of 5% annually. The mid-term appraisal of the Tenth Five Year Plan suggested building dedicated freight corridors (DFC) on trunk routes. The objective of the DFC was to separate freight traffic from passenger traffic on high density routes in order to improve operational efficiency, reduce cost of operation and carry higher volumes of freight traffic.

In April 2005, the government proposed building DFCs along the Golden Quadrilateral. The Committee on Infrastructure established a task force in May 2005 to prepare a concept paper on the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) and the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC). The Ministry of Railways appointed RITES in July 2005 to conduct a feasibility and preliminary engineering cum traffic survey for both corridors. The Government also sought support from Japan for technical cooperation to assist in assessing the feasibility of the DFCs. Japan agreed to conduct a feasibility study on the project in November 2005.RITES submitted its feasibility report on the project in January 2006. The Union Cabinet granted in-principle approval to the project the next month. The Dedicated Freight Corridors Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), a public sector company to build and operate the DFCs, was incorporated on 30 October 2006. RITES submitted the preliminary engineering cum traffic survey for the project in January 2007. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) completed a feasibility study on the project in October 2007, and subsequently agreed to provide funding for the WDFC. The Ministry of Railways approached the World Bank to provide funding for the EDFC in 2008. In May 2011, the World Bank agreed to provide funds for a 1,183 km section of the EDFC connecting Ludhiana with Mughalsarai. The Union Cabinet approved both corridors in February 2008 with a target completion date of 2013.

Technology

Pantographs

In 2007, India set a world record with the indigenously designed high-rise pantograph by Stone India Ltd, developed for the use in dedicated freight corridors and other freight routes. with many other added features, such as twin catenary height of 6 and 7.5 meters, auto upward-force adjustment to improve effective current collection in adverse conditions, thereby enabling reduction in energy consumption and allowing trains to run at much higher speeds.

Locomotives

WAG-12 locomotive is a class of Indian multi-frame electric locomotive that was developed in 2017 by Alstom. With a horsepower of 12,000 hp it is one of the most powerful locomotives in the world. These locomotives are being used on the existing dedicated freight corridors. WAG-9HH locomotive is a 9000 hp single-frame electric locomotive developed by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works to be used in Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC). The WAG-9 series are quite similar to the WAP-7 class locomotive but features a different gear ratio, which makes it suitable for heavy freight operations. They are also the freight-dedicated three-phase AC locomotives in the country fitted with IGBT.

Tracks

The Eastern and Western DFCs use special head-hardened (HH) 250m-long rails welded using flash butt welding machines. The axle load of their tracks is 32.5t, compared to the existing 25t axle load used on Indian Railways' tracks.

Speed

As of December 2019, in the commissioned sections, a total of 4000 trains have been run.