A new beginning

Freight corridors should improve logistics position

The completion of the 1,337-km Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC), from Punjab to Bihar, and its expected inauguration on November 1 are being seen as cause for celebration. The opening of this stretch linking Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh with Bihar will certainly make an appreciable difference by more than halving the transit time for freight. Quicker coal deliveries to thermal plants in the north-western states, a perennial problem in the summer when power demand spikes, will be a key gain. The EDFC is part of a wider project that includes a 1,506-km Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, linking Maharashtra and