Despite the South Eastern Railway (SER) focusing on increasing freight revenue, passenger trains on the congested Howrah-Mumbai main line through Rourkela continue to face delays. The East-West Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) proposed in 2016-17 to alleviate this congestion remains in planning stages. The Rourkela Junction is experiencing severe track congestion, leading...
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to delays of up to several hours for the 52 passenger trains passing through it daily. This congestion is primarily due to the increased freight traffic, particularly mineral transportation. While the East-West DFC project is classified as proposed with a Detailed Project Report (DPR) expected by April 2024, no further updates are available. The proposed DFC, spanning three railway zones, includes two sub-corridors. The first sub-corridor stretches 2,073 kilometers from Palghar (Maharashtra) to Dankuni (West Bengal), and the second sub-corridor spans 195 kilometers from Rajkharsawa (Jharkhand) to Andal (West Bengal). The DFC is expected to start from Jharsuguda in Odisha, passing through Rourkela, Rajpur near Tatanagar, and then through Adra and Asansol Divisions of Eastern Railway (ER) before connecting to the recently commissioned Eastern DFC at Dankuni. SER officials conducted preliminary track surveys and route finalizations four years ago, suggesting a new alignment for the DFC route to cover the Koida Mining Sector in Odisha and the Dongaposi-Pandrasali mining belts of Jharkhand to reduce congestion on the main line. However, there are no recent updates regarding the DFC project. Meanwhile, the SER has reported a record freight loading of 211.60 million tonnes in the 2023-24 fiscal year, with the trend continuing in the current fiscal year. They loaded 34.91 million tonnes of originating freight in April and May 2024, generating Rs 3,166.66 crore, a significant increase from the previous year.