The Andhra Pradesh Government has requested the Railways to extend its dedicated freight corridor connectivity to ports in the state so that millions of tonne of cargoes can be handled in a pollution-free and cost-effective manner. The government has requested the Dedicated Freight Corporation of India (DFCCIL) for its support in upcoming port development projects. The dedicated freight corridor (DFC) connectivity will act as a catalyst for the overall development of the ports and bring in effective and pollution-free transportation of the cargo, besides being cost-effective. For this purpose, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) may be entered into to ensure better coordinated efforts. DFCCIL is presently working on two corridors — Western Corridor and the Eastern Corridor. Four other corridors are proposed. The proposed DFC will touch Andhra Pradesh, but as of now it is planned till Vijayawada. From there, the freight trains will operate on feeder routes of the Indian Railways, which means it will not be a dedicated freight corridor, with both passenger and mail express running on them. Once an MoU is signed, the corridor can connect different ports in the state specifically.
Andhra Pradesh has four ports in the pipeline for development by 2024 — Bhavanapadu Port in Srikakulam District, Kakinada SEZ Port in East Godavari, Machilipatnam Port in Krishna district and Ramayapatnam Port in Prakasham district. With the development of these four non-major greenfield ports, it is targeted to handle about 300.00 to 350.00 tonne cargo per annum by 2024-25. The Railways dedicated freight corridor (DFC) project involves construction of six freight corridors traversing the entire country. The purpose of the project is to provide a safe and efficient freight transportation system. The first two DFCs — the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai, and the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni in West Bengal — will decongest the railway network by moving 70 percent of goods trains to these two lines. They are both on track for completion by December 2022. Around 56 percent of WDFC and 60 percent of EDFC is complete as of July 2020.