Indian government-run national transporter Indian Railways (IR) is working on a blueprint for private operators from major user industries like steel, coal and automotive to run private freight trains, a government official said on Tuesday, October 27.
The official said that, as the 2,800 km eastern and western dedicated freight corridors (DFCs) are nearing completion and due to start as of March 2021 in phases, IR will lay down a policy wherein private operators can ply their own freight trains along these corridors.
The state transporter expects large freight users in coal, steel and automobiles to take advantage of this infrastructure policy to operate their own trains along the high-speed corridors and ensure more efficient transport and logistic systems of their own.
He said that, while part of the corridor of 11 km will be ready by March 2021, the entire corridor of 2,800 km is expected to be ready for private freight trains by March 2022.
IR has already permitted operations of private passenger trains by private operators, which was previously its own exclusive domain.