The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) has urged the Railway Board to allot additional specialised wagons to expand its truck-on-train (ToT) service as demand continues to rise, officials said on Sunday.
Launched on the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor on September 18, 2023, the ToT service facilitates the movement of trucks and milk tankers on specially designed wagons between Rewari in Haryana and Palanpur in Gujarat. The service has been hailed for reducing transit time, costs, road congestion and carbon emissions.
According to officials, nearly a year after the launch, DFCCIL approached the Railway Board seeking more wagons to support the growing business potential. However, the request is yet to be fulfilled.
Industry sources said the service requires Flat Multi-Purpose (FMP) wagons — a new design currently under production, with deliveries expected early next year. “Currently, we are using Bogie Rail Wagons, which are flat wagons, but FMP wagons are multi-purpose and better suited for the ToT model,” a Railway Board official said.
At present, DFCCIL transports around 30 trucks daily from Palanpur to Rewari over a distance of 630 km in just 12 hours. Before unloading, 25 of these vehicles are milk tankers arriving by road from an Amul dairy in Banas, while the remaining trucks carry vegetables, machinery, diesel and other goods. Drivers travel in a dedicated rest coach during the journey.
Thanks to the freight corridor, the milk tankers now reach Prithala in Faridabad in nearly 10–12 hours after offloading at Rewari — a sharp improvement from the earlier 30-hour road journey. Officials said the reduced transit time helps maintain product quality.
Calling the initiative a “game-changer,” DFCCIL officials highlighted that the ToT model effectively addresses typical rail logistics constraints such as first- and last-mile challenges and minimum load requirements. “This intermodal system saves time, eases highway congestion, improves driver welfare, and cuts emissions,” an official said.
DFCCIL has also received interest from multiple industries seeking similar services from other locations. “We are ready to expand. We just need the FMP wagons,” the official added.