With a clear vision to redefine the future of freight logistics, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corp. of India Ltd (DFCCIL), under the aegis of the Ministry of Railways, organised the Global Heavy Haul Seminar 2025 from June 20-21 in New Delhi. Centred on the theme ‘Beyond Construction: Sustaining Heavy Haul Networks with Predictive Maintenance’, the event brought together leading minds and organisations from across the world to share insights on these critical issues.
In his welcome address, Praveen Kumar, Managing Director, DFCCIL, emphasised that a central aim of the seminar was to shift the focus from infrastructure creation to its long-term optimisation and maintenance for sustained performance. The distinguished Indian delegation included Railway Board Members Naveen Gulati (Infrastructure), Brij Mohan Agrawal (Track & Rolling Stock), and Hitendra Malhotra (Operations & Business Development). They were accompanied by senior officials from the Ministry of Railways, including Uday Borwanker, DG, RDSO, and Ashok Kumar Verma, General Manager, Northern Railway. International participants included Kari Gonzales, Chair, IHHA; Antonio Merheb, Vice-Chair, IHHA; Siegfried Fink, Managing Director, Plasser India; and Professor Ravi Ravitharan of the Monash Institute of Railway Technology.
Spanning five technical sessions and one panel discussion, the two-day seminar featured experts from global research institutions and technology providers in heavy haul and rail infrastructure. Key sessions explored topics such as ‘Leadership, Strategy & Innovation in Global Heavy Haul Networks’, ‘Rail Integrity & Life Extension’, ‘Building the Future of Sustainable Heavy Haul’, ‘Emerging Technologies for Real-Time Infrastructure Intelligence’, ‘Built to Last: Interface Design, Precision Welding, and
Fleet Intelligence’, and ‘Modernising Rail Life-Cycle Management: Indian Case Studies’. A technical compendium capturing major themes was also launched during the inaugural session.
The seminar concluded with a delegation visit to DFCCIL’s corporate office and the Heavy Haul Institute (HHI) in Noida, for a dedicated session on ‘Rail-Wheel Interaction’.
