How the Railways plan to revive freight business

Indian Railways is reviewing the tariff structure for its freight business and wants to expand the basket of commodities it transports to boost revenues, the railway minister said on Thursday.

Presenting the annual Railway Budget for 2016-17, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said the freight business -- which provides two-thirds of Indian railways' revenues -- was struggling as capacity constraints bite and industrial demand slows.

"These are challenging times, maybe the toughest," he told India's parliament, announcing plans for three new dedicated freight corridors across the country.

"We need to look beyond the current approach to expand the basket (of commodities). We will make sure we recapture the traffic."

Image: A worker welds the door of a luggage compartment of a passenger train at a railway yard in Ahmedabad. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

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