RailEnquiry

The East-West dedicated freight corridor will be introduced soon, said H.D.Gujrati, Executive Director of Railway Board, here on Tuesday.The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organised the Logistics Colloquium in Kolkata on Tuesday key focus being on Ports – Enhancing Efficiency, Technology Interventions for Better Delivery and Journey into Next Practices.Gujrati, while providing insights on the railway perspectives, said, “Developing Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) is currently the focus of the Railway Board. The East-West Corridor is the prime focus wherein Kolkata would be connected with Vijayawada and Mumbai. Once the 300-km long Kanpur-Khurja section on the eastern DFC is ready, focus would be shifted to Western Corridor.”The DFC project aims at boosting freight traffic growth by setting up rail lines dedicated for goods transport.Currently Indian Railways carries mixed traffic failing to capture the demand for high freight movement.But Gujrati said, “Since Rail transportation depends on Rail capacity and capacity to handle traffic, we are aiming to actualize the clubbing of three trains on one track to meet the growing demand and diminish cross movements of train to allow smooth and faster movement.”

Kolkata Port Trust ( KoPT) Chairman Manish Jain said, “The Eden channel is all set to be opened up soon as trial runs are already being conducted.”

He said the KoPT believes that the opening of the Channel will allow the movement of more cargo to and from the port of Haldia and can be used by Haldia and Kolkata-bound vessels.

Emphasizing on the need to strengthen partnerships between the pillars of logistics services like ports, navigation, exports and imports etc, Jain highlighted some of the important projects.

He said,