A new project in Maharashtra seeks to enhance freight capacity by linking high-speed rail freight movement with the existing expressway industrial and logistics network. This integration is expected to streamline operations and improve efficiency in the transportation of goods across the state.
Nashik : Days after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis floated the proposal to link Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and the proposed Vadhavan Port with the 701-km Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Expressway, Central Railway authorities confirmed that the project is under consideration, bringing cheers for the industries in Nashik. Central Railway chief public relations officer Swapnil Nila, while talking to TOI , said, “While the third Dedicated Freight Corridor connecting Dankuni in West Bengal and Gujarat via Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra has been announced, the feasibility of the linking the new corridor parallel to 701-km Samruddhi Expressway is also being examined. Had Nashik been the part of Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor in the first phase, the development today could have been much better than what we see,” Nashik Industries Manufacturers Association president Ashish Nahar said.
“The connectivity will help the industries in Nashik with the products transported to and from hinterland and even exports given the fact that they will be running through the dedicated corridor expected for quicker delivery at better competitive prices that will also include facilities and services required for custom clearance and other formalities,” Rajesh More, another industrialist, said. “Just as Samruddhi Expressway was completed rapidly, this freight corridor could also be a reality soon,” he said. More contradicted this view, pointing out that the freight corridor is a revenue generating model as against the semi high speed railway which is a passenger oriented route.