The Hindu Business Line : NF Rly not to be hit by Numaligarh refinery pipeline

Pipeline issues
Loss of revenue to NF Rly to be offset by halt to empty movement of wagons over long distance.
The commissioning of the pipeline may not lead to total suspension of wagon loading.
The loading point will change from Numaligarh refinery to Rangapani from where the wagons will be loaded.

Kolkata , Sept. 18

Contrary to general perception, the commissioning of the 1,000-km long pipeline network from Numaligarh refinery (Assam) to Rangapani near Siliguri (West Bengal) in 2009 may not hit hard the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR).

Currently, the bulk of the refinery's production is evacuated by NFR's dedicated rakes, known as Rhino rakes, and, on an average, 2.5 to three rakes are placed every day at the refinery. With the commissioning of the pipeline, this traffic of the railway will get transferred to pipeline. The railway transportation is costly because it involves movement of the empties in one direction. The commissioning of the pipeline, it is therefore felt, will facilitate evacuation at a reduced cost.

Revenue loss

But, then NFR authorities do not seem unduly worried over the probable loss of POL traffic. True, there will be a loss of revenue but that will be not so much due to the loss of traffic as to drop in the lead. At the same time, the movement of empty wagons over a long distance will be dispensed with. The drop in lead will entail revenue loss but a halt to empty movement over long distance, too, will reduce the cost of operation. As a net result, as the sources estimate, the surplus generated by the railways on this score might remain intact.

The commissioning of the pipeline, it is pointed out, may not lead to total suspension of wagon loading. Only the loading point will change, from Numaligarh refinery to Rangapani. From Rangapani, the loaded wagons will be sent to consumption centres in different directions.

Diesel, motor spirit

The pipeline network, when commissioned, will mainly transport diesel and also motor spirit and kerosene from time to time.

When diesel will be transported, the wagon loading of motor spirit and kerosene will continue.

Similarly, when motor spirit or kerosene will be transported by the pipeline, other products will be transported by rail.

The pipeline cannot be used for sending all types of petroleum products at the same time.

Traffic support

The Numaligarh refinery authorities are believed to have assured NFR of adequate traffic support in the long run. Once the pipeline operation starts and the present problem of evacuation gets largely resolved, the refinery will be in a position to step up its capacity utilisation, creating demand for railway's tank wagons.

Currently, the refinery is often required to scale down operation because of the evacuation problem leading to accumulation of stocks. Attempts to evacuate products by the river route have not been a success.

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