Railway unveils 4,000-km new cross-country industrial corridor

To provide trouble-free facilities to transport industrial products, the Indian Railways has decided to build a 4,000-km long new dedicated freight corridor connecting industrial belts across eastern and western parts to southern India through major ports in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. They are a part of the big-ticket infrastructure projects of the Railways. These DFCs are -- 1,115-km East Coast corridor from Kharagpur (West Bengal) to Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh); the East-West corridor which comprises 1,673 km connecting Bhusaval-Nagpur-Kharagpur-Dankuni (near Kolkata) route, and 195-km Rajkharswan-Kalipahari-Andal (West Bengal) route. The third is the 975-km North-South sub-corridor Vijayawada-Nagpur-Itarsi (Madhya Pradesh) route. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) will begin the survey for these corridors and will complete the exercise in a year. These corridors will provide connectivity to Paradeep, Dhamra, Gopalpur Ports in Odisha and Vishakhapatnam, Gangavaram, Kakinada, Krishnapatnam and Machhalipatanam ports in Andhra Pradesh, ensuring faster movement of goods and capacity enhancement in the over-saturated sections of the railway network. The proposed Kharagpur-Vijayawada corridor will pass through the Odisha's Kalinagar Industrial area, connecting it with southern India. The Kalinagar Industrial area will be connected with the western parts of the country through the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor.