Railway Board Chairman and CEO Suneet Sharma on Wednesday said it is not possible to give a timeframe for the bullet train project now due to land acquisition hurdles being faced in Maharashtra.
“In Maharashtra we are facing land acquisition trouble…We have not got the land yet and we are in discussions with the State government for the same. Hence, we will not be able to give a target timeframe right now,” Mr. Sharma said.
He said nearly 95% of land acquisition is complete in Gujarat and as a result tenders have been issued and the work has started. “We are trying that wherever we are getting land and there are no other issues…we are awarding contracts and work has started. But where we have land issues, it won’t be right to give a timeframe.”
Mr. Sharma said the Railways has achieved record freight loading for nine consecutive months since last September despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.
To a query on the target to double freight loading by 2024, the Chairman said about 1,232 million tonnes freight was ferried last year (2020-2021). The target for the current year is 1,400 million tonnes and 2,024 million tonnes for 2024.
“This won’t just happen by increasing trains or improving asset utilisation…To achieve that, mega projects such as the two dedicated freight corridors need to be completed and we are confident to see that happen next year,” Mr. Sharma said.
“We believe we will definitely get more traffic if we improve the turnaround times and speeds. We are very certain of achieving our freight loading targets as major infrastructure projects come online.”
