The Hindu Business Line : Why ECOR is not able to rake in freight

THE East Coast Railway (ECOR), a major freight loading zonal railway with headquarters in Bhubaneswar, faces hurdles to scaling greater heights in freight movement. In 2004-05, it handled a little more than 70 million tonnes (mt) of freight traffic, registering 10 per cent growth over the 64 mt in 2003-04.

The throughput in 2005-06 is expected to touch 73/74 mt; the target still to be finalised though. "The potential to achieve a bigger volume of traffic is there but the infrastructure deficiency and various other problems stand in the way," according to ECOR sources.

The electrification of the Bhadrak-Khurda section and the Talcher-Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd siding is not complete. The work on the first is expected be completed in the next few months. Once this is done, one problem will be over: No change of traction will be needed at Bhadrak (from electric to diesel) and Khurda (from diesel to electric) thus making through movement of trains with electric engines possible between Howrah and Chennai. However, this will render many diesel locomotives redundant, pushing up at the same time the demand for electric locomotives.

According to one estimate, the demand for electric locomotives may be up by a hundred. The ECOR is believed to have taken up the issue with the Railway Board. But how many additional electric locomotives will be made available is not clear yet. The ECOR has 360 locomotives — 190 diesel and 170 electric. With additional locomotives will arise the demand for more crew and enhanced maintenance facilities. How are these issues going to be resolved remains to be seen. The existing maintenance facilities at Waltair, it is felt, are inadequate.

The ECOR has urged the Board to arrange for the redeployment of the diesel locomotives rendered surplus in other zones. However, if the required number of additional electric locomotives does not materialise, the diesel locomotives may have to be run "under the wire".

The electrification of the Talcher-MCL siding is also in progress. But what is causing concern is the non-availability of coal in the Talcher mines. The recent agitation by the local people in the mine areas in support of various demands hit the daily loading of coal for several days; the loading dropped to 16/17 rakes a day from 24/25 earlier.

The emergence of huge thermal power plants close to the pithead too will render redundant the rail transportation of coal, as the merry-go-round, or the conveyor, system will replace the rake movement. Coal accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the total volume of traffic handled by the ECOR. The projection is that the coal traffic will increase marginally in 2005-06.

ECOR sources hope larger imports of coking coal by steel plants through Visakhapatnam and Paradip ports and the proposed import of about two million tonnes of steam coal through these ports by the National Thermal Power Corporation, as and when that happens, will offset, at least partially, the shortfall in the movement of domestic coal. But pinning a good deal of hope on the imports can be risky. After all, the landed cost of the mineral will not be insignificant, dimming the long-term prospects of the traffic.

The single-line networks on several sections such as Cuttack-Paradip, Sambalpur-Jharsuguda, Titlagarh-Raipur, Kotavalsa-Bacheli-Kirandul, Sambalpur-Talcher and Raygada-Koraput cause concern. The work on the doubling of some these sections is in progress (for example, the doubling of the Cuttack-Paradip section will be over shortly) while the same is not true about other projects. Take for example, the doubling of Koraput-Kirandul section. The ECOR mooted the proposal some time ago anticipating the increase in traffic as also some of the operational constraints. Iron ore from Bailadila mines is transported on this route to Visakhapatnam for exports as also to meet the requirement of the Vizag Steel Plant. Both exports and the requirement of the steel plant are projected to rise substantially in coming years, rendering the capacity of the existing single line inadequate. Right now 16/17 rakes are moved on the route as also a passenger train.

There is another point: The track lies in a hilly terrain forcing the Railways to take more care in regard to rail movement. There are speed restrictions for both loaded rakes and the empties. Then there are maintenance blocks. So the expansion of the line capacity is the only way to meet the projected increase in throughput. But hardly any progress has been made in this regard. Also, there are environmental issues.

The Railways sanctioned the Jagdalpur-Rowghat project many years ago but it has made little headway. The location of the project being in the forest area, there is a lot of resistance to its implementation.

Now for the rolling stock: Over 80 per cent of the ECOR's freight traffic is moved in Box-N wagons whose strength, it is felt, is not enough to meet the demand. There is a proposal to enhance the strength from the present 110 to 120 rakes.

About half of these rakes will operate on the closed circuits carrying traffic only in one direction. Again, more than the increased availability of the rakes, the facilities for their maintenance will be important. The existing facilities at Waltair are considered inadequate.

The BOBR rakes, numbering 41, can be used only for transportation of coal. Right now seven/eight of these rakes daily transport thermal coal from the Talcher mines to Paradip port for coastal shipments but with hardly any traffic available for back-loading.

The chance is that once NTPC starts importing steam coal, at least one rake a day will be used for back-loading, though the lead will drop. The ECOR has a stock of 45 rakes of BCN wagons ideally suited for manual, not mechanical, handling. No wonder a mere 10-12 per cent of the total throughput is handled by these rakes.

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