The corridor’s commissioning will unlock fast, safe and seamless freight access between India’s logistics hubs and JNPA, its biggest container gateway.
As a critical part of one of India’s landmark mega‑projects nears completion, Praveen Kumar, Managing Director of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corp. of India Ltd (DFCCIL), conducted the first rail car inspection of the final leg of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) on Wednesday.
The newly laid track from Vaitarna to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) covers nearly 102 km. The inspection marks a decisive step in commissioning the Civil, Building, and Track Works Contract Package‑11 (CTP‑11) stretch of the project.
The Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors, designed to reduce logistics costs and fast‑track delivery through rail transport, were announced in 2006 and commenced construction in 2013. The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) has been operationalised from Ludhiana to Sonnagar, while the Sonnagar-Dankuni section of about 538 km remains under construction.
During the inspection, Kumar personally supervised a comprehensive review of track quality, bridges and other structures, overhead equipment (OHE), signalling systems and safety standards to ensure compliance with the highest operational benchmarks ahead of freight operations commencement.
Following the inspection, Kumar observed, “The progress achieved is truly breathtaking. The credit goes to Team DFCCIL for their unwavering commitment and hard work. Let us now push ourselves to achieve the next milestone by completing this project at the earliest. Breaking larger goals into smaller, achievable milestones is the key to realising our collective vision.”
The JNPA-Vaitarna section, under DFCCIL’s Mumbai Unit, is a critical link of the WDFC. Upon commissioning, it will provide fast and seamless freight connectivity between major industrial and logistics hubs and JNPA, India’s largest container port.
Additionally, the 30 km Vaitarna-New Kharbao section has been fully electrified, with a successful electric locomotive trial run conducted on November 30 under Kumar’s direct supervision.