The Hindu Business Line : Railways may end 2005-06 with freight traffic of 660 mt

INDIAN Railways may finish the current fiscal with a freight traffic of about 660 million tonnes (mt), slightly short of the revised internal target of 670 mt, estimate the Railway Board sources.

Till November, the throughput was a little more than 421 mt, likely to be up by another 60 mt or so in December for which the figure is yet to be finalised. Barring unforeseen developments, the trend is likely to persist in the last quarter of the current fiscal. Which means there should be an additional traffic of about 180 mt or so in the last three months of the current fiscal.

It might be noted that the Railway Minister, while presenting the Budget for 2005-06, had set a freight traffic target of 635 mt for the year as against the actual throughput of over 601 mt in 2004-05. Subsequently, encouraged by the buoyancy of the economy which pushed up the freight movement by rail, the target was revised upwards internally to 670 mt or so, though the Railway Minister exhorted the railwaymen to work hard to achieve a much higher target of 700 mt, or an incremental traffic of nearly 100 mt in one year. Such an incremental traffic, many in the Railways felt, was unachievable given the state of infrastructure. During the current fiscal, the Railways lost substantial volumes of traffic due to floods in various parts of the country. For nearly four months, large number of freight rakes remained immobilised. In the worst of times, the number of such idle rakes was as high as 500, never less than 250. This dealt a severe blow to freight movement.

The changing pattern of coal movement too posed a challenge before the Railways. Earlier, the bulk of the coal movement used to be from the coal-producing areas of West Bengal and Bihar to powerhouses in northern and western regions. With powerhouses now importing large quantities of coal, the port-based movement has picked up. This year the import of coal for powerhouses, it is calculated, will be around 11 mt or so as compared to the earlier estimate of 13.5 mt. The figure may touch 20 mt in 2006-07.

For the past few years, the incremental traffic of the Railways has been on the rise — from 37 mt in 2003-04 to more than 44 mt in 2004-05 and an estimated 58/59 mt in 2005-06. Whether the Railways will be able to sustain such a growth will depend on several factors such as the rate at which the economy will grow and the kind of infrastructure the Railways will provide in the coming years. Concepts such as freight corridor and private sector participation in container movement by rail are all aimed at boosting rail infrastructure. The announcement of schemes to facilitate private sector participation in Concor-type operation is likely soon, sources added.