New Delhi, April 29 (PTI): After successfully launching dedicated freight corridors linking four metros, India is now teaming up with neighbouring countries to develop global railway corridors to cut down travel time.
“India is now following a policy of international corridors. In the first step, it is trying to link the railways of India and Myanmar over a distance of 330 km,” a top railway ministry source said. “This will also give us a link between India and Southeast Asian states including China. The exercise will cut traveling to one-fourth the time taken by sea route,” the source added.
The eastern international corridor will link Kohima in the northeastern state of Nagaland with Myanmar. It will lead to railway routes connecting India with Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos on one hand and with economically developed southeastern China and Russia on the other.
India is already assisting the railways of Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Bangladesh in developing infrastructure for running or connecting inter-state railways to boost their internal traffic and to link them internationally.
On the western side, the sources said that India is counseling Pakistan and others to develop rail links to the Middle East, thus boosting trans-shipment of goods and services in the strategic region.