If all goes according to plan, the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) project will be completed by December 2022 which will not only decongest the existing Indian Railway network but will also help the national transporter free up the current tracks to run additional passenger trains on current Mumbai-Delhi routes.
Over 99 percent of the land acquisition is complete for this project that will cover five states of the country including Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
Apart from that, out of 3,215 project affected families in the Mumbai sector, only 923 remain. Rehabilitation work of 2,292 projects affected people have already been completed.
Asked about the rehabilitation of project affected persons, officials said, "In coordination with state government, around 75 percent work of rehabilitation of project affected persons are completed, the process of rehabilitation of rest families is ongoing which will be completed soon."
Confirming the development, a senior officer of WDFC said, "We are almost ready to connect Dadri to JNPT by the end of next year. Work of laying track, building the tunnel and construction of a flyover between Vaitarna and JNPT (one of the most crucial parts of this project ) is in full swing".
The existing rail route of Mumbai-Delhi on the Western Corridor is highly saturated, with line capacity utilization varying between 115% to 125%.
"After completion of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor passengers of Mumbai-Delhi route could expect more train, "said a senior official of Indian railway adding that when DFC is completed, the existing routes will be completely free of freight as a result of which more path for the additional passenger trains will be available.
The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor will cover a distance of 1,506 km of double-lane electric track from JNPT to Dadri passing through Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Phulera and Rewari. It will run parallel to an existing line through Narnaul and Ringas. The other important station will be Phulera and Marwar Junction in Rajasthan, Palanpur, Amli Road (Sabarmati), Makarpura (Vadodara), Gothangam/ Kosad in Gujarat and Vasai Road in Maharashtra before it terminates at JNPT in Maharashtra's Raigad district.
A dedicated freight corridor will separate freight and passenger traffic to increase the speed of freight movement. Western Dedicated Freight Corridor will be used to transport fertilisers, food grains, salt, coal, iron and steel and cement.
