August 11, 2020: Indian Railways has been facing a challenging year because of the coronavirus outbreak. With passenger revenues hit by the limited train services in the first quarter of the fiscal, the national transporter is pinning hopes on an increase in freight revenue and lower expenditure to match last year’s operating ratio.
Plans are being finalized for private firms to run freight trains on dedicated freight corridors, Railway Board chairman Vinod Yadav said. The private sector will also take part in the redevelopment and transformation of railway stations into commercial hubs.
“We are trying to complete the dedicated freight corridor project by December 2021. There have been some problems (in the progress of this project) because of covid-19, but we are trying to sort it out. As of now, the work has picked up well. Having said this, we are working out the business development plans,” Yadav said.
When this DFC is completed, there will be a lot of capacity, where we will be able to run many trains. The DFC is designed for 100 km per hour and there will be a lot of network capacity available to introduce more freight trains.
We have decided that we will be going for private freight operators also for these corridors. The point that I want to make is that we can go for bidding only when these corridors are commissioned and trains start operating.
The bidding process will start closer to commissioning of the railway lines. Right now we are working out the details and the project report. We have deputed a consultant. The details and contours are still being worked on.
