The Hindu Business Line : Ministry to submit plan on dedicated track for freight traffic

"The Railway Ministry would soon prepare a project, which involves huge investment, for dedicated rail lines to connect the four metros and port cities to ensure uninterrupted flow of freight traffic," said the Union Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad. "The project would soon be submitted to the Planning Commission as directed by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh," the Railway Minister said.

Mr Prasad said this while receiving a dividend of Rs 110 crore for 2003-04 from the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) Managing Director, Mr S. Balachandran.

IRFC, the financing arm of the Railways, posted a net profit of Rs 378.85 crore in 2003-04.

Mr Prasad also received Rs 18.75 crore annual dividend from IRCON for the financial year 2003-04.

The Prime Minister also expressed keen interest in other modernisation projects during his meeting with Mr Prasad on Monday, the Railway Minister told reporters. He said the Prime Minister had assured him that no utility project of the Railways would be held up due to paucity of funds. He added that the Railways required Rs 46,000 crore for the ongoing projects.

Mr Prasad added that the Railways had transported 23 million tonnes of freight during the first six months of the current year, which is well above the target so far.

Similarly, passenger traffic had increased by more than 7 per cent during the time period. He reiterated that the Railways would create new job opportunities. "In fact, we have 84,000 sanctioned posts in the Railways which would be filled up very soon," he said.