10,000 km for more freight traffic capacity

Produced at Plasser India, three SVM 1000 I track laying trains are working on the largest infrastructure project in India. The impressive construction projects include a dedicated freight corridor with a total length of around 3,300 km.

As there is a lack of capacity for the transport of raw materials and industrial products, India has been investing heavily in the expansion of the rail network for many years. “Dedicated Freight Corridors” are created which, as the name says, are dedicated specifically to freight transport. 

Currently, the East and West freight corridors are being built. Both lines cover a total length of about 3,300 km. The Eastern freight corridor runs from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni in West Bengal, the Western one from the Jawaharlal Nehru port in Mumbai (Maharashtra) to Dadri in Uttar Pradesh.

In the final phase, a network of dedicated freight corridors will cover India, connecting the country’s four largest metropolises: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata Together with the two diagonals - North-South Corridor (Delhi-Chennai) and the East-West Corridor (Kolkata-Mumbai) - the Golden Quadrilateral Freight Corridor (GQFC) will be created. In future, it will transport 55% of the freight traffic of the Indian Railways on a total length of about 10,000 km.

The Indian Railway Ministry set up the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd. (DFCCIL) for the development and financing, construction, maintenance and operation of the dedicated freight corridors.

Increase in transport efficiency

The modernisation of transport technology, increase in productivity and reduction of transport costs per unit are at the core of the project. International experience and technologies for heavy traffic lines will be used. The aim is to achieve a high load capacity and thus higher loads at higher speeds by means of optimum construction of the permanent way.

The West corridor is designed as a heavy traffic line for 25 t axle load (32.5 t for bridges and dams). Trains with double-stack cars (for two containers on top of each other) will travel on a fully electrified line with speeds up to 100 km/h.

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