Vadodara, September 8, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday described the completion of India’s Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) network as a major milestone in strengthening the country’s logistics infrastructure, saying the dedicated routes would reduce freight travel time, lower fuel and transportation costs and enable farmers to get perishable produce to markets faster.
Addressing a gathering in Vadodara after dedicating the final key sections of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) to the nation, Modi said more than 2,800 km of dedicated freight infrastructure now represented a significant achievement for 21st-century India.
The final three WDFC sections cover 326 route kilometres and were developed at a cost of more than Rs 20,700 crore. Their commissioning has made the DFC network fully operational across its entire length.
“Dedicated Freight Corridor is the lifeline of a rapidly developing India,” Modi said, highlighting its potential to transform the country’s transportation system.
He noted that freight trains previously shared tracks with passenger services, slowing the movement of both goods and people. With dedicated routes, freight trains can now operate independently of passenger traffic, with more than 430 freight trains running daily on the Eastern and Western freight corridors, he said.
According to Modi, a freight train that earlier took around six-and-a-half hours to cover 100 km can now cover the same distance in less than half the time on a dedicated corridor. Similarly, a journey that could take around 30 hours by truck can be completed in about 10 to 12 hours using the freight corridor.
The benefits, he said, extend beyond faster transportation, with savings in fuel and time, lower freight costs and reduced environmental impact.
The newly commissioned sections include Sanand (North)-Makarpura, New Umbergaon-New Saphale and New Saphale-Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), providing direct freight connectivity to the major port.
The infrastructure is expected to accelerate EXIM cargo movement, reduce logistics costs and ease congestion on Mumbai’s railway network.
Modi also underlined the corridor’s importance for agriculture, particularly in transporting flowers, vegetables and fruits that can lose value if they take too long to reach markets.
He cited the operation of a double-stack container freight train between JNPT and Vadodara, saying it carried cargo equivalent to more than 250 trucks in a single movement.
The Prime Minister also linked the freight network with railway expansion into remote and tribal regions of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra that had remained outside the national rail network for decades.
The programme saw the launch of freight train services from New Sanand (North), New Makarpura, New Umbergaon and New JNPT. A new passenger service between Vadodara and Tanda Road was also flagged off.
The Jobat-Tanda Road railway line, developed under the Chhota Udepur-Dhar project, was dedicated to the nation, connecting remote and tribal areas of Alirajpur with the railway network.
Modi said the DFC was part of a broader expansion of roads, railways, ports and multimodal infrastructure aimed at improving the movement of goods and people across the country.
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