India and South Korea sign MoU on technical cooperation in rail sector
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Ministry of Railways is targeting total freight loading of 1,101 million tonnes in FY2014-15South Korea will cooperate with India and provide its technical expertise to modernise the Indian railways under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India’s Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) of South Korea in Seoul today. Arunendra Kumar, Chairman, Railway Board represented India during the signing of the MoU, while the Korean side was represented by Yeo Hyung Koo, Vice-Minister, MOLIT. India’s Ministry of Railways said in an official statement, "The MoU would enable technical assistance and cooperation between the Railways of the two countries on areas such as High Speed Rail, Modernisation of Rolling Stock, Railway Operations, Modernisation of Signalling, Construction & Maintenance technologies and in development of Logistics Parks/Terminals." The agreement has been signed within days of the new Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu taking charge on November 10, 2014. Modernisation of Indian railways is a priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. To enable the transformation, his government has allowed 100% FDI in railways infrastructure, a move that is also expected to boost the “Make in India” initiative. Among the new projects identified for FDI are around 11 freight lines including three new freight lines: Dankuni- Gomoh; Whitefield - Kolar; and the North - South Dedicated Freight Corridor that will connect Delhi with Chennai. Indian Railways runs around 11,000 trains everyday, of which around 4,000 are used to transport goods. Freight traffic has improved from last year and Indian Railways carried around 621.6 million tonnes of revenue earning freight traffic during April 1 - October 31, 2014, which is up about 4.8% y-o-y. In October 2014, the revenue earning freight traffic carried by Indian Railways was up about 8.5% y-o-y.
This article was published on November 17, 2014.
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