PM to launch freight corridor on October 6 in Mumbai

New Delhi, Sep 6 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lay the foundation stone of the first phase of the Rs 22,000-crore dedicated freight corridor project on October 6 in Mumbai, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad announced today.

Mr Prasad, who was in Mumbai on Saturday to look into the preparatory work for the launch of the Railways' most ambitious project till date, said the date for the Prime Minister's programme for the launch ceremony had been firmed up.

''October 6 is going to be the date for the launch of the project by the Prime Minister in Mumbai,'' he said.

In October, foundation stones for the project would also be laid in Sasaram (Bihar) and Ludhiana (Punjab), he announced.

He said the Railway Ministry is gearing itself up for an early take off of the dedicated freight corridors, linking Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, after the Union Cabinet recently gave its approval for the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for funding the gargantuan project.

Mr Prasad had earlier said the interim report on dedicated rail freight corridors by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was expected to be ready before the year-end.

Once operational, the freight corridors will enable goods trains to cruise at a speed of 80-90 km per hour from the existing 40-50 km.

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