The World Bank, which has part-funded the dedicated freight corridor, is working with the Railways to formulate the private freight terminal (PFT) policy. The Railways, meanwhile, has taken policy decisions to attract freight to the rail-mode.

Referring to Railways’ 800 private freight terminals, Junaid Ahmed, India Country Director, South Asia, World Bank, said that the World Bank is working with the Railways to formulate the private freight terminal policy.

He added that it is important that the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) taps the capital markets. He was speaking at the CII Railconnect conference on Monday.

Railways is trying to increase its freight movement. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal added that Railways, which has already spent almost ₹50,000 crore as capital expenditure in the first five months of the current fiscal, is working on policies to attract freight.

The Railways has been able to provide transit time guarantees for its freight trains, which has helped the transporter garner extra cargo for its Kisan rail services as well as parcel trains.

Railways has set a target to load 2,000 million tonne of freight over the next five years. By March 2024, Railways with will create network capacity by making double lines in networks with traffic density of over 90 per cent, said Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav.

Recently, the Railway Board notified that Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd has been accorded the power to book extra traffic on stations located on its network and offer cheaper freight rates if they get extra traffic.

The revenue earned from such traffic will accrue to the Railways. This revenue will also form part of the key performance indicators of DFCCIL to be firmed up by the infrastructure directorate of the Railway Board.

On the Western freight corridor, DFCCIL has three cement rail-sidings, and another three private freight terminals, all of which will help DFCCIL book such extra cargo.

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