New Delhi: Firming up plans for expansion of the dedicated freight corridor (DFC) network, the Indian Railways will seek the cabinet’s approval for arranging funds and acquiring land for the new three dedicated corridors.
The Railway Budget 2016-17 has proposed the total 5,769km-long track comprising three more dedicated freight corridors in the country to ensure faster movement of goods.
RITES has undertaken the preliminary engineering and traffic system study of the proposed three new routes to ascertain the traffic projection and the report has been submitted to railways, DFCC managing director Aadesh Sharma said on Friday.
The proposed new routes are the 2,327km-long east-west corridor connecting Kolkata to Mumbai; the 2,328km-long north-south corridor linking Delhi with Chennai, and the 1,114km-long east coast corridor from Kharagpur to Vijaywada.
The railways will go to the cabinet for approval of arranging funds and begin the process of acquiring land for the new corridors, he said.
The market share of railways is expected to go up to 50% from the current 18% with the operation of DFC. While the railways will earn revenue from freight movement on the dedicated corridors, DFCC will earn access charge which is about 35-40% of the revenue earnings.