What the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation's new avatar will look like

Smaller, high-frequency routes, and possibly faster execution could be the focus

Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw recently made a major announcement regarding dedicated freight corridors (DFCs), saying that the Centre, which had so far been building integrated 1.000-plus-kilometre corridors, will now focus on micro freight corridors that have the potential of generating revenue for Railways.

The project, which finally started in 2015 after nine years of inactivity despite receiving financial sanction, currently has two major corridors under its mandate. The Eastern DFC connects Ludhiana (Punjab) to Dankuni (West Bengal), while the Western DFC connects Rewari in Haryana to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra.

The two