A freight rail service to Mumbai is likely to start running on Sunday, after a joint venture between freight services provider freightfreight and Mumbai Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MMTC) successfully signed a memorandum of understanding with the state transport department.
The joint venture is expected to be completed by September this year and the contract will be awarded by the state government in the coming months.
It will be running on the Salfords S.A.B. route, connecting Mumbai with Calcutta via Chennai and Pune, a route which has been used for freight in the past.
“Our joint venture will be used to connect the S. A.
B with Mumbai and we expect to have it operational in three to four months.
It will also be used for transporting freight between Salfors port in India and Mumbai,” said an official from the Mumbai Metropolitan transport corporation.
According to a memorandum signed by MMTC with freight services company, the company has agreed to use the Saffron Corridor between Mumbai and Chennai to transport freight in two phases.
The route will link Mumbai’s port with Chennai and Chennai’s port to the Mumbai port via Calcutts port in Calcuttas west coast.
The Saffrancastra, a corridor connecting Chennai and Saffrons western coast, was launched last year.