Increasing freight share is a long road for railways

In March 2023, during the last Budget Session of Parliament, railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared the progress of two of the railways’ most ambitious plans, the eastern and western Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs).

He had said that so far 66.27 per cent (886 kilometre of the total 1337 Km) of the eastern DFC and 57.30 per cent ( 863 Km of 1506 Km) of the Western DFC has been commissioned with a cumulative capex spending of Rs 99,872 crore.

While these numbers sound impressive, the fact remains that the railways had announced the creation of DFCs in 2005-06. The progress has been steady but slow, and there is much that needs to be done to develop the ecosystem for faster freight transport,