Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will expand the dedicated freight corridor in the country. Jharkhand, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh will witness this development in the coming years. The announcement was made by the minister on the foundation day of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India. A source said that the work and layout of the plan are underway in two of these states. Soon, the third state will also initiate the process.
This will reduce the time for the passengers to reach their destination. Moreover, the step can make the freight facilities of India match global standards. The connectivity issues, which these areas face, will be removed, once these dedicated freight corridors are constructed.
Before this, the central government mooted the construction of two western and eastern corridors. Both of them are to be constructed on a budget of Rs 84,000 crore and will cover 2843 km. The western corridor will cater to Haryana and Maharashtra, Ateli to Jawaharlal Nehru Port; while the eastern freight corridor will connect Khurja to Pikhani, Uttar Pradesh.
RK Jain, managing director of Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) said, “As much as 56% of the dedicated freight corridors have been commissioned. Also, more than 99% of the land required for the eastern and western corridors of the project has been acquired.’’
These freight corridor services are essential to decongest the Indian Railways network, which struggles with track availability issues. Passenger services getting priority over goods trains often delay the delivery of goods and hampers the commercial viability of the network. Once complete, the freight corridors will allow the seamless movement of goods across ports as well as manufacturing and consumption hubs of the country.
