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The excellent piece “Putting Rail freight back on track” (Business Line, July 12) was undoubtedly a well-researched and informative article. However, in spite of burgeoning earnings for the last couple of years, the author’s plea for Government intervention to frame a new transport policy initiative which would favour the Railways seems to be rather out of place!

Liberalisation has set in motion market forces that now determine the choice of the mode of transport on economic and efficiency factors, and can no longer be subject to a governmental fiat!

Unless the Railways place an embargo on populist new passenger trains which are choking rail routes, further slowing down the pathetic speed of goods trains, and offers lower freight tariffs, the industry, especially those involved in moving high value goods, may simply not be interested! This embargo could be at least for the next five years till the Dedicated Freight Corridors are in place.

R. C. Acharya Former Member, Railway Board

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