No hike in freight rates,corridor project to be put on fast track

The minister said in the present economic situation,when the country is about to return on a high growth path,she did not wish to “impose any burden on the citizens” by raising freight rates. Banerjee also promised to introduce a premium tatkal service for parcel and freight movement to facilitate transportation of goods on short notice. This is likely to give flexibility to the industry,while helping the railways to generate some extra revenue. The railways will also examine the need for special wagons for iron ore,fly ash and automobiles.

“DFC is our prime minister’s dream project. I am concerned about the pace of progress and Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd will be revamped within a short span of time to ensure timely implementation of the project. We will implement it in time,” Banerjee said. For the western corridor of the DFC,agreement for main loan for phase I would be signed with Japan International Cooperation Agency next month. For the eastern corridor,negotiations for funding up to Sonnagar are on. The ministry will start execution of Sonnagar-Dankuni section during the year. Funding for this section will be arranged through domestic investment on PPP mode.

For the remaining four corridors — north-south (Delhi,Haryana,Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra,Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu),east-west (West Bengal,Jharkahnd,Orissa,Chhtisgarh,Maharashtra),east-south (West Bengal,Orissa,Andhra Pradesh) and south-south (Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka,Goa) — preliminary engineering-cum-traffic survey will be taken up this year.

The railway minister has set freight target for the coming financial year at 944 million tonnes,compared with 882 MT for the current fiscal. She hoped to exceed the target for the current fiscal. “A loading target of 882 MT was set for the year. I am happy to report that the railways will surpass the freight loading target by at least 8 MT,” Banerjee said.