The Railway Board has decided to draft a master plan for Kolkata to augment its freight and passenger operations in the run up to the dedicated Freight Corridor project, scheduled to begin from November this year.
Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has tried to weave a road map for the growth in freight by 60 million tonne this year with an aim to achieve the target of 1,100 million tonne by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan. The eastern corridor with a projected rate of 15% return will be geared up to meet the enhanced loading.
The Railway Board has planned to bring the Eastern Railway, South Eastern Railway and Metro Rail under a single umbrella to bolster the growth in freight and passenger revenue.
KC Jena, chairman of the Railway Board, said: “The time has come for them to sit together. The three railway divisions plan things for themselves. It has to be coordinated now as benefits are not reaching to the people at large.”
The Railway Board will appoint a consultant to study different terminals in and around the city. “It will study all the terminals of Kolkata along with both freight and passenger facilities there,” Jena said.
The Cabinet has given its approval to enhance the capacity of the Dankuni terminal. “We want new terminals to come up at the periphery of the city,” he said.
The Rail Bhavan has also approved the extension of the eastern corridor to Dankuni, leading to the need to set up a logistics park there. “The consultant will also look at the possibility of developing the park near Dankuni,” he said. According to him, the railways would look at the public-private-partnership model to finance the project.