Indian Railways’ Trucks-on-Trains Drives Shift from Highways to Green Freight

The service is currently operational between New Rewari and New Palanpur on the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, covering around 636 km.

As India’s economy expands and consumption patterns diversify, freight volumes have surged—putting mounting pressure on highways, fuel consumption and air quality. To tackle this challenge, Indian Railways, through its Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) programme, has rolled out the Trucks-on-Trains (ToT) service, a new-generation logistics solution designed to move long-haul freight off roads and onto electrified rail corridors.

Conceived as part of Indian Railways’ long-term freight transformation strategy, ToT combines the flexibility of road transport with the efficiency and environmental advantages of rail. Under the model, loaded trucks are carried on specially modified flat wagons along the DFC, avoiding congested highways for the main journey and using roads only for short first- and last-mile movements.

Faster, Predictable and Cost-Effective

The service is currently operational between New Rewari and New Palanpur on the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, covering around 636 km. On this stretch, ToT has cut end-to-end transit time from nearly 30 hours by road to about 12 hours by rail, significantly improving reliability and turnaround times while lowering logistics costs.

Pricing has been kept simple and competitive, with freight charged on transparent weight slabs:

• ₹25,543 per wagon for trucks up to 25 tonnes

• ₹29,191 per wagon for 25–45 tonnes

• ₹32,000 per wagon for 45–58 tonnes

• ₹21,894 per wagon for empty trucks

To support time-sensitive cargo, particularly dairy, no GST is levied on milk tankers. Since January 2024, Open Indent booking has allowed customers greater flexibility in planning movements.

Strong Uptake and Commercial Viability

Operational data shows the service is rapidly moving beyond pilot stage. During FY 2025 (April–December), ToT handled 545 rakes, moved over 3 lakh tonnes of freight, and generated ₹36.95 crore in revenue.

Origin-wise performance underlines strong adoption:

• New Palanpur: 273 rakes, over 2 lakh tonnes, ₹20.18 crore revenue

• New Rewari: 272 rakes, about 1 lakh tonnes, ₹16.76 crore revenue

Western India’s freight clusters—especially in dairy and FMCG—have driven volumes, with major customers including the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Amul). The relaunch of ToT under an MoU with GCMMF in June 2023 anchored regular traffic and boosted industry confidence.

Driving a Modal Shift from Road to Rail

Strategically, ToT is delivering a clear modal shift of long-haul freight from road to rail. Each freight train replaces dozens of trucks, easing highway congestion, cutting accident risks, and reducing diesel consumption and road maintenance costs. Transporters also benefit from avoiding highway tolls, improving cost predictability and margins.

On the Palanpur–Rewari corridor alone, shifting freight to rail has effectively removed nearly 48,875 trucks from highways for the core journey. This has led to estimated diesel savings of about 8.9 million litres and prevented around 23 million kg of CO₂ emissions, demonstrating the scale of environmental gains.

Cleaner, Safer and More Resilient

Because the DFC network is fully electrified, ToT significantly reduces emissions of CO₂, NOₓ and particulate matter. As India’s power mix becomes greener, the carbon footprint of rail-based freight is expected to fall further. Reduced truck traffic also cuts road dust pollution, improving air quality for communities along major highways.

Rail operations on dedicated corridors are also less vulnerable to fog, heavy rain and extreme weather, enhancing schedule reliability—particularly in northern India during winter. Shorter driving hours reduce driver fatigue, improving safety and working conditions.

A Growing Revenue Stream for Rail Logistics

Since inception, Trucks-on-Trains has completed over 1,955 trips, carried more than a million tonnes of freight, and generated over ₹131 crore in cumulative revenue. Uptake from sectors such as dairy, automobiles, FMCG and food processing points to its scalability.

Looking ahead, DFCCIL plans to strengthen the service through new Flat Multipurpose (FMP) wagons, higher payloads, and additional origin–destination points, reducing last-mile costs and expanding reach to new industrial clusters.

Part of India’s Multimodal Logistics Vision

Trucks-on-Trains is a core pillar of DFCCIL’s multimodal logistics strategy, complementing dedicated freight corridors, multimodal cargo terminals and logistics parks. By deploying road and rail where each is most efficient, the model supports faster, cleaner and more reliable freight movement.

In effect, ToT represents a structural shift in India’s freight transport paradigm—demonstrating that growth, efficiency and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand.