Railways to involve private players in terminal development

New Delhi: Aiming to ease congestion at major freight terminals, railways are mulling over a proposal to involve private players for development of their own terminals.

"There is a need for involving private players in the development of terminals. The ministry is currently finalizing the terminal development policy draft," said a senior railway ministry official.

"The draft will be put before the Railway Board for final approval soon," said the official.

"Once approved the policy will find mention in the Railway Budget also. The policy will define the role of the private players, facilities to be extended to them and other related issues," said the official and added "it will be done on the public-private partnership basis."

Admitting that some of major goods sheds are in pathetic condition with bad approach roads and virtually no facilities for labourers or merchants, the official said development of the terminals will go a long way in boosting the freight traffic.

It will also help improve the loading and unloading capacity.

Terminal plays a major role in freight traffic as it provides the key interface between rail freight services, other modes of transport and storage facilities.

There are about 1000 active freight terminals connected to the rail network. Besides involving private players, railways have also identified 50 terminals to be upgraded across the country at an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore.

"This is a continuous process to upgrade our existing terminals. We have selected the terminals on the basis of traffic flow and congestion. Those terminals dealing with major commodities where the traffic is more than 15 rakes in a month are being selected to be upgraded as model terminals," said the official.

These 50 terminals are mostly in metros and industrial centres, said the official.

These upgraded terminals will have state-of-the-art facilities including additional lines, platforms, warehouses and concrete approach roads. There will also be separate rooms for labourers and merchants.