(a) whether the Railways has decided to improve its freight-moving ability in the next few years;
(b) if so, the details of modalities worked out for the same;
(c) whether the Railway’s share in freight transportation in comparison to road sector has increased/ decreased in the last three years;
(d) if so, the details in this regard; and
(e) the time by which the dedicated Freight Corridor project is likely to start functioning in the country?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)
(a) & (b): At present out of 1245 sections on Indian Railways, 483 sections are saturated. In order to increase the freight moving ability, 177 new line, 256 doubling, 58 gauge conversion and 570 traffic facility works are already included in the works programmes. In addition, works on two dedicated freight corridors of total 3360 Km. length has been taken on hand.
(c) & (d): There is no mechanism to assess the Railways’ share in total freight transport in the absence of reliable data pertaining to freight movement on road sector. However, Railways have loaded 1104.17 MT, 1108.79 MT, 953.46 MT in 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 (upto January 2018) respectively.
(e): Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors have been targeted for commissioning in phases by the year 2020.
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