India Completes Western Dedicated Freight Corridor With Final 326km Section to JNPT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the final three sections of India's Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) to the nation on September 8, completing the 1,506km freight line running from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) near Mumbai to Dadri, near Delhi.

The three sections — New Sanand (North) to New Makarpura, New Umbergaon to New Saphale, and New Saphale to New JNPT — total 326 route km and cost more than ₹20,700 crore. Their completion gives direct dedicated-freight-rail connectivity to JNPA, India's busiest container port, and closes out the WDFC nearly two decades after the Dedicated Freight Corridor programme was first conceived.

With the Western corridor now finished, India's combined Eastern DFC (Ludhiana–Sonnagar, 1,337km) and Western DFC together form a 2,843km dedicated freight network, both now fully commissioned. The government says the completed network will speed up export-import cargo movement between ports and industrial centres, cut logistics costs, and relieve congestion on Mumbai's conventional passenger and freight lines.

Modi also flagged off freight services from four of the newly commissioned stations, dedicated a separate new line between Jobat and Tanda in the Chhota Udepur-Dhar sector, and laid foundation stones for further railway works around Vadodara — including third and fourth lines on the Vadodara-Ratlam route and a gauge conversion between Miyagam Karjan and Choranda — as part of a wider package the government valued at more than ₹35,000 crore for the region.