The Hindu Business Line : ‘SWR is targeting 100 m tonnes of freight in four years’

We have been marking steady growth the last five years. While iron ore contributes nearly 70 per cent of our loading, steel and other raw materials contribute the rest. We serve around 10 ports, five each from the east and west coasts.

MR PRAVEEN KUMAR, GENERAL MANAGER, SWR

A. J. Vinayak

Recently in Hubli

The Hubli-headquartered South Western Railway (SWR) zone — formed on April 1, 2003 with the Hubli division of South Central Railway, and the Mysore and Bangalore divisions of Southern Railway — has been witnessing steady growth in originating traffic over the years. With about 3,000-km track network, this zone has connectivity to 10 ports in the country.

This zone is the main logistical backbone for the steel industries and iron ore exporters of Karnataka. With iron ore mines and steel industries playing a major role in its growth, the zone expects to reach 90-100 million tonnes mark in freight loading by the end of the current Plan period.

In an interview to Business Line at Hubli recently, Mr Praveen Kumar, General Manager of SWR, shared his views on the performance and future plans of the zone.

Excerpts from the interview:

Five years have gone by since the formation of the zone. How has the growth been over these years?

Things have been very good. The originating freight loading, which was 31.5 million tonnes during 2004-05, went up to 38 million tonnes in 2005-06. In 2006-07, it was 42.7 million tonnes. In fiscal 2007-08, our originating freight loading stood at 46.24 million tonnes. We have been marking steady growth over the years. While iron ore contributes nearly 70 per cent of our loading, steel and other raw materials contribute the rest. We serve around 10 ports, five each from east and west coasts.

Which are the major freight corridors of SWR?

Our major freight corridor is Bellary in Karnataka to Vasco in Goa. This is the port’s gold-mine, as most of the iron ore and steel industries are around this region. The sector from Bellary-Koppal has absolutely become an industrial and mining area. The next corridor is Bellary-Raidurga-Chikjajur-Hassan-Mangalore. This second freight corridor connects to Mangalore port.

The third corridor is a sort of mixed one. More passengers and less freight, but very important. That is from Yeshwanthpur to Meeraj via Ariskere, Belur, Chikjajur, Davangere, and Hubli. This also brings a lot of inward traffic from Southern Railway side, and foodgrains are loaded on this corridor.

What steps have been taken to improve these corridors?

From Bellary to Hospet, we have already completed track doubling. We have been actively pursuing with Railway Board on doubling of the Hospet-Vasco stretch. This will boost tremendously our capacity to deal with future traffic in the area.

The Bellary-Mangalore corridor is prone to landslide problems. We hope to overcome this in two to four years’ time. We are trying to stabilise the slopes.

What are the bottlenecks affecting your zone?

Mostly line capacity. We are a single-line railway. We have about 3,000 km of track. The only double line is from Jolarpet to Bangalore. Now we have done Bellary to Hospet. We are working on Yeshwanthpur to Tumkur and Bangalore-Ramnagar.

We are also doing doubling work between Ariskere and Birur. This is a common route for Shimoga and other lines. The traffic density is so high that we have identified it as a bottleneck. We cannot introduce more trains because we are not able to run them there.

What other improvements have you planned?

We are also undertaking work of upgrading stations. Some stations with two lines will be converted into three lines. That gives us the freedom to cross trains. We have identified 16 stations for this — nine in Mysore division and seven in Hubli division. This will again increase our capacity to deal with more trains.

Three additional crossing stations are being set up and certain bye-pass routes are being constructed. These will help reduce congestion.

Do you have any problem at loading and unloading points?

Upgradation at loading and unloading points is a continuous exercise. To improve the efficiency of rail freight, wagons should take a minimum time for loading and unloading. In this connection we have started a system whereby, if a rake is unloaded in three-four hours, the rake can be taken back without any detention.

We have provided lighting arrangements at the loading points, so that round-the-clock loading and unloading can be done. We don’t want to hold up wagons during the night hours.

What is the rate of detention at mine head and port level?

Nothing alarming but there is scope for improvement. We strive to reduce detention by persuading our customers and by improving our own system.

What could be the expected traffic of the zone in the coming years?

When the current Plan ends in 2012, SWR is slated for 90-100 million tonnes of traffic. That is our aim.

Can you explain this?

In the first freight corridor, some steel industries have plans for expansion and a few others have plans to set up new plants. As a thumb rule, every million tonnes of steel production will give rise to, at least, four million tonnes of railway traffic that includes raw material and finished goods. Added to this, some cement plants and thermal power units are also planned in the region.

This corridor is going to be a gold-mine for the Indian Railways. The way it is growing any level of investments by the Railways is worthwhile. It is a very bright scenario.

What we are doing is that we are doubling the Bellary-Vasco section. We are trying to make this section fit for 25-tonne axle-load wagons, so that we can carry 10 tonnes more in the same wagon. We are strengthening the track structure and bridges, and manufacturing new wagons that will help carry more tonnage. When the Bellary-Vasco section in Goa gets doubled, the average speed will be doubled.