The pre bid conference on the allotment of sole operational rights of the railways' “roll-on, roll-off” (Ro-Ro) service between the New Rewari and New Palanpur section of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) was held last week through physical participation as well as video conferencing. As many as 10 firms participated in the pre bid conference, including the Konkan Railways. The Ro-Ro service consists of the carriage of loaded and empty trucks on flat rail wagons. As we have reported earlier, a request for proposal (RFP) was floated by the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) on February 16. Currently, 2,500-3,000 trucks ply daily between Palanpur and Rewari. The licensee will run two rakes of 45 BRN wagons, each with 450 trips per rake, totalling 900 trips in a year. The reserve price is Rs 9 lakh, and the minimum contract value is Rs 81 crore.4th Indian Cement Review Conference 202117-18 March Click for event info In the first phase, the DFCCIL is constructing the 1,506 km WDFC and the 1,876 km Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC), including the public private partnership (PPP) section of the Sonnagar to Dankuni stretch. The 538 km EDFC between Sonnagar in Bihar to Dankuni in West Bengal is being implemented under a public private partnership (PPP) at a cost of Rs 15,000 crore. This is in addition to the 1192 Km Ludhiana (Punjab) to Mughalsarai (Uttar Pradesh) stretch that has been funded by the World Bank. Out of Rs 30,358 crore, the World Bank is providing Rs 13,625 crore for the project. Starting from Sahnewal near Ludhiana (Punjab), the EDFC will pass through Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand to terminate at Dankuni in West Bengal. The WDFC, connecting Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai, will traverse through Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. For tender details click here. Image Source Also read: DFCCIL completes trial run of train on EDFC Also read: Railways registers highest-ever freight loading data