Version 1: DP World starts double-stack container trains from JNPA port to Delhi region and Ahmedabad

Two new rail routes carry export boxes two-high from factory regions to India's largest container port. Here is why cheaper inland transport matters to exporters.

Picture a goods train where every wagon carries not one big steel box but two, one sitting on top of the other, like a double-decker bus for cargo. Trains like this now run between India's biggest container port and two of its busiest factory regions.

On Monday, 26 October 2026, Dubai's port and logistics giant DP World said it has launched two double-stack rail services. They link the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) in Navi Mumbai with the Delhi region (NCR) and with Ahmedabad in Gujarat. Here is what that means, and why the cost of moving a box from a factory to a ship matters so much for exporters.

What exactly was announced?

There are two routes. The first has been running since September 2026. It connects JNPA with DP World's inland depots at Pali/Rewari, Jhattipur near Panipat, and Modinagar, all in the Delhi region. The second connects JNPA with DP World's depot at Sachana in Ahmedabad, taking JNPA's double-stack trains into Gujarat.

Both routes use the Dedicated Freight Corridor, or DFC. Think of it as a railway line only for goods trains. No passenger trains share the track, so goods trains do not have to wait at the side while an express rushes past. The western part of this corridor stretches 1,506 km, from Dadri near Delhi to JNPA.

Some details are still missing. DP World did not share how often the trains run, how long the trip takes or how many boxes they carry each month.

What is a container, and what is a depot?

A container is a giant steel box. Factories pack goods inside it, from shirts to car parts, lock it, and the same box goes by truck, train and ship without being opened. It is like a school bag that you never unpack between the bus, the classroom and home.

An inland container depot (ICD) is a kind of dry port far from the sea. Exporters bring their boxes there, and the boxes are loaded onto trains heading to the port. So a factory in Panipat does not have to send its own truck all the way to Mumbai.

Four steps: a factory fills a box, an inland depot checks it, a train carries it two-high, a ship loads it at JNPA — The journey of an export box on the new routes

Why stack the boxes two-high?

Double-stack trains carry containers in two tiers, so one train trip moves more cargo. It is the same idea as a double-decker bus. One driver and one trip, but almost twice the seats.

For a sense of size, JNPA sent its first long-distance double-stack train on the corridor on 21 August 2026, carrying 360 TEUs of import cargo. A TEU is the standard way to count boxes: one TEU is one 20-foot container. So that one train carried the space of 360 such boxes.

Before and after panels: single stack is one box high, double stack is two boxes high on the same wagon — Double-stack means two layers of boxes on each wagon

Why does this matter to exporters?

When an Indian company sells abroad, the price a buyer pays includes the cost of getting the goods to the ship. If that cost is high, the Indian product looks expensive next to one from another country. It is like two samosa stalls selling the same samosa, but one has to pay much more for the auto ride to bring potatoes. That stall must charge more.

Rail is one of the cheapest ways to move goods in India. A government study by DPIIT and NCAER found rail costs about ₹1.96 per tonne per km, while air costs about ₹72. The same study said India still relies heavily on trucks, and that fuel alone is 42.1% of what road freight spends.

The study also found that the pain is not shared equally. Firms with sales under ₹5 crore spend nearly 17% of the value of what they make on moving goods. Large firms keep it closer to 7.6%. For a small maker of towels or tools, that gap can decide whether a foreign order makes money.

Two bars: small firms spend 17 percent of output on logistics, large firms 7.6 percent — Logistics eats a far bigger slice for small firms

Across the whole country, the same report put logistics costs at ₹24.01 lakh crore in 2023-24, which is 7.97% of India's GDP, the value of everything the country produces in a year.

Who could feel the difference?

DP World says the routes will serve clusters across Gujarat and North India, including automotive, engineering, pharmaceutical, chemical, textile and home-furnishing makers. The company says exporters, importers and companies moving goods within India all get more rail space and more reliable trips to and from JNPA.

Hemant Kumar Ruia, DP World's country manager for India, said in the company's statement: "By connecting JNPA with major markets across NCR and Gujarat, we are helping businesses move cargo faster, reduce logistics costs and build stronger, more resilient supply chains."

The company also says moving more cargo by rail reduces reliance on road transport, which makes the whole freight network more sustainable.

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The bigger picture for DP World in India

This is part of a larger bet. DP World has already invested $3 billion in India and has proposed another $5 billion for ports, inland depots, warehouses and logistics. Ruia told Mint the money will go to facilities that are running close to full, rather than on a fixed timetable.

The company has also run double-stack trains from Mundra port to its Ahmedabad terminal before. The new routes add JNPA, India's largest container port, to that network.

What to watch next

The real test is in numbers DP World has not shared yet: how many trains run each week, how many days a box takes from Panipat to the ship, and what exporters pay compared with a truck. If those numbers look good, more factories in the north and west could switch part of their cargo from road to rail.

For a young person thinking about a career in trade, this is a simple lesson. Selling abroad is not only about making a good product. It is also about how cheaply and reliably that product reaches the ship.

As it was first published

DP World starts double-stack container trains from JNPA port to Delhi region and Ahmedabad