India marks official completion of 2,800-km Dedicated Freight Corridor

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stones, inaugurated, and dedicated to the nation development projects worth more than ₹35,000 crore in Vadodara, Gujarat, with the completion of the 2,800-kilometre Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) forming the centrepiece of the announcement.

The Dedicated Freight Corridor, spanning the Eastern and Western routes has now been fully connected, separating freight traffic from passenger rail lines across a large stretch of the network. Modi described the achievement as a defining infrastructure moment for the country, stating that with the corridor complete, over 430 cargo trains can now run daily, cutting what was previously a 30-hour truck journey down to 10 to 12 hours. He noted that covering 100 kilometres on the corridor now takes less than half the time it previously did, translating into fuel savings, lower freight charges, and reduced environmental impact.

The Prime Minister singled out Vadodara's role in the project, calling it "the true city of Gati Shakti University," where the corridor's final links were connected describing the milestone as "this historic task for 21st-century India" being accomplished.

According to the Prime Minister, the corridor's impact is already being felt in the agricultural sector, with farmers across eastern and western India now able to move perishable produce including seasonal flowers, vegetables, and fruits to larger markets without the delays that previously caused spoilage and losses.

As a concrete example of the corridor's freight capacity, officials pointed to the successful operation of a double-stack container freight train running from JNPT Port to Vadodara, which transported cargo equivalent to more than 250 trucks in a single journey from Mumbai.

The DFC's completion was framed as one piece of the government's broader 'Saptadhara' or seven streams resolution, announced earlier at the Red Fort, which identifies rapid connectivity under the Gati Shakti initiative as a national priority. The Prime Minister linked this connectivity push to wider goals, including new rail lines reaching previously isolated tribal regions in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra, and a railway budget exceeding ₹2.75 lakh crore aimed at generating large-scale employment.

Beyond freight infrastructure, the Prime Minister highlighted Vadodara's 150-year industrial history, evolving from textiles to petrochemicals, and its growth as an MSME hub over the past two decades. He specifically noted the city's role as the birthplace of India's first domestically manufactured military transport aircraft, the C-295, whose first flight took place in Vadodara.

Citing India's expanding manufacturing base from railway coaches and wagons to solar PV modules, the Prime Minister described the moment as part of what he called a new manufacturing story "from chip to ship," tying together rail freight capacity, port connectivity, and domestic aerospace manufacturing as interconnected pillars of the government's infrastructure agenda.

The Prime Minister closed his address by linking these developments to India's longer-term growth targets, calling for sustained focus on building a "Viksit Bharat," or developed India, by 2047.