Rail Budget: Freight corridors in focusBS Reporter / New Delhi February 26, 2008The construction work on the ambitious eastern and western freight corridors, which would cover a combined distance of 2,743 km along the golden quadrangle, will start in fiscal 2008-09."The works of the eastern freight corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni, situated near Kolkata, and the western corridor from Delhi to JNPT have been sanctioned. I would like to assure the house that construction work on both these projects will commence in 2008-09," Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said today.Both the freight corridors were given in-principle clearence by the cabinet committee on economic affairs in November 2007, and are likely to be completed in five years from the start of construction.The total cost of the two corridors has been estimated at Rs 28,030 crore, and a special purpose vehicle called Dedicated Freight Corridor India has been set up to oversee the projects under the freight corridors.Budget allocation for the freight corridors for 2008-09 has been kept at Rs 1,300 crore, which is almost at the same level as Rs 1,330 crore year marked for 2007-08 out of which only Rs 86 crore was spent, mainly on survey work.Prasad also announced that the feasibility study on the north-south, east-west, east-south and south-south dedicated freight corridors, which were announced in the 2007-08 Railway Budget, will be expedited to facilitate their construction in 2008-09 fiscal.The dedicated freight corridors, when completed, is likely to reduce the pressure on about 20,000 km of the railways
