With full commissioning of the Dedicated Freight Corridor pushed back further to June 2022, Indian Railways officials have started going after chronic reasons for delays.
Land acquisition problems have caused significant delays to commissioning of parts of the DFC. 200 hectares of land was still pending award by the end of July 2020 on the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor. On the PPP stretch of the EDFC between Sonnagar and Dankuni, 25% of award of land notified is pending.
In order to cut down on red tape and push the process through, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal recently held a meeting with state government Chief Secretaries. Letters were also written to Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra by Goyal, according to a statement released by the Ministry.
Review meetings are also taking place with various stakeholders, including contractors involved in the execution of the project, the statement said.
Dedicated Freight Corridor Commissioning Status
First announced in 2005, the 3,660-kilometre project has moved forward at a glacial pace over the past one and a half decades. With the first contracts awarded, work finally began on the ground in 2013.
Parts of the corridor have been commissioned. A 306 km stretch of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor between Rewari-Madar has been commissioned. Over 580 trains have already run on this stretch so far.
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On the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, the 194 km stretch between Khurja-Bhadani has been commissioned. Over 1,270 trains have been operated on this section according to a July 2020 DFCCIL status report of the project.
Section-wise Dedicated Freight Corridor Commissioning Timeline As of August 2020
| Route | Section / Package | Length (kilomtres) | Status | Timeline (As of August 2020) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western DFC | Dadri – Rewari | 127 | WIP | March 2022 |
| 2 | Western DFC | Rewari Palanpur (Rewari – Madar) | 306 | Complete | |
| 3 | Western DFC | Rewari Palanpur (Madar- Marwar) | 143 | WIP | December 2020 |
| 4 | Western DFC | Rewari Palanpur (Marwar- Palanpur) | 204 | WIP | March 2021 |
| 5 | Western DFC | Palanpur – Makarpura | 289 | WIP | March 2022 |
| 6 | Western DFC | Makarpura – Sachin | 135 | WIP | June 2022 |
| 7 | Western DFC | Sachin – Vaitarna | 186 | WIP | June 2022 |
| 8 | Western DFC | Vaitarna – JNPT | 101 | WIP | June 2022 |
| 9 | Eastern DFC | Ludhiana – Pilkhani | 179 | WIP | June 2022 |
| 10 | Eastern DFC | Pilkhani – Khurja | 222 | WIP | June 2022 |
| 11 | Eastern DFC | Khurja – Dadri | 46 | WIP | June 2021 |
| 12 | Eastern DFC | Khurja – Bhaupur (Khurja-Bhadan) | 194 | Complete | |
| 13 | Eastern DFC | Khurja – Bhaupur (Bhadan-Bhaupur) | 157 | WIP | October 2020 |
| 14 | Eastern DFC | Bhaupur – Mughalsarai | 402 | WIP | June 2022 |
| 15 | Eastern DFC | Durgawati – Sasaram | 56 | Complete | |
| 16 | Eastern DFC | Mughalsarai-Sonnagar (Balance) | 81 | WIP | June 2021 |
