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The Indian Railways proposes to utilize natural gas as fuel for its fleets of diesel locomotives in line with the international trend, Railways Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said on Thursday.This will have a substantial effect on reducing the emission of carbon and in making the railway system environment-friendly, he added.Inaugurating 10th edition of the International Rail Exhibition and Conference organized by Confederation of Indian Industry ( CII) in the capital today, Kharge said the Research, Design and Standard Organization (RDSO) is doing considerable work in developing highly fuel efficient diesel locomotives.He disclosed that an Indian manufacturer has established a joint venture with a reputed foreign firm for design and development of the system under the overall supervision of RDSO.Kharge said that FDI was welcome in infrastructure projects, such as the elevated rail corridor in Mumbai, high speed rails and dedicated freight corridor. FDI is also open for factories in rolling stock, such as locomotives and coaches, he stated.

Referring to the ambitious project of the railways - the Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC), he said that it would be a game changer for connectivity and freight easing all transportation significantly by connecting the northern hinterland and similarly the eastern side to the plants in the north.

There is considerable scope for private public partnership in railways in general and DFC in particular, Kharge said.

Freight terminals, parts of the DFC, redevelopment of stations and elevated rail corridor in Mumbai are areas proposed for private investment during the 12th Plan period, he said.

He emphasized that during the 12th Plan period, there would be continuous effort to add new routes, augment capacity on existing routes, and invest in terminals, rolling stock and in workshop and maintenance facilities.

In absolute terms, he said that the Railways plan to add 4000 kms of new lines besides over 7,500 kms of doubling and 5,500 kms of gauge conversion and 6500 kms for electrification.

The Railways also plan to procure over one lakh wagons, 24,000 coaches and nearly 4000 locomotives. The Minister pointed out that in the last decade, Indian Railways have reduced the number of accidents per million train kilometers from 0.44 in 2003-04 to 0.13 in 2012-13,Kharge said.

Arunendra Kumar, Chairman, Railway Board, spoke about the large scale bio-toilets being introduced in the railway network. These cheap but effective toilets would be retrofitted in 55000 coaches.

The total number of bio-toilets when fully implemented would be around 2,50,000, he said.

Calling for public private participation in enhancing the speed of the passenger trains.

Kumar said "Our objective is to cover Mumbai-Ahmedabad by one hour and 52 minutes. It is a tough call and we need the support of the private sector in this regard".

He also informed about the signing of a joint venture between Railways and the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam today for setting up a coach factory.

The International Railway Equipment Exhibition (IREEE), the only international event in India for the Railway and allied sectors, in its 10th edition this year has over 400 exhibitors. The expo has direct participation from 24 countries including China, Czech Republic, France and Germany, as well as first time participants like Japan, Korea and Russia, with country pavilions.

This year's event also sees the maiden edition of the Urban Mass Transit Expo (UMTE) 2013, a concurrent international exhibition cum conference with a clear focus on Metro and light rail.