The Hindu Business Line : Rail operators pool best practices for higher market share

New Delhi March 23 In the backdrop of losing market share to shipping and road sector, railway operators from several countries have decided to pool in their best practices with a common vision — increase the share of rail transport in domestic as well as the global logistics chains.

The railway operators are plagued by similar problems broadly — unable to meet the huge traffic demands, capacity constraints, stiff competition from road and shipping lines and difficulty in funding mega capital expansion plans.

As for solutions, the operators are looking at solutions that include double and triple stack container operations, higher axle load trains and modernisation plans.

"We (various rail roads) are facing similar problems and we are adopting similar solutions broadly though they do vary from country to country at specific levels," Mr Shri Prakash, Advisor, Indian Railways, stated at the Global Rail Freight Conference here today.

The conference was organised by International Union of Railways and Indian Railways.

S. AFRICAN RAILWAY

"With a standard gauge and height restrictions, we are unable to move double stack containers. We are investigating whether it would be useful to convert tracks into broad gauge in certain sections," Mr S. Gama, CEO, Spoornet, said. Spoornet, the South African Railway, has planned massive capital investment plans over the next few years. Pointing out that the railways is trying to capture higher market share, he said, "Out of the total general freight, rail share is 10 per cent now. We want to increase it to 22 per cent over the next five years."

CHINESE RAILWAYS

Chinese Railways had a similar experience to share. "Our major problems include shortage of railway capacity on major trunk lines, inability to meet seasonal surges in passenger movement demand," said Mr Zhang Jianping, Deputy Director General, Planning Department, Ministry of Railways, China.

China is building a high-speed, dedicated passenger line so that the capacity on trunk routes can be freed and used for freight movement. Chinese Railways is also upgrading existing coal transport corridors. By 2010, China plans to build 17,000 km of new line, which includes 7,000 km of dedicated passenger line. It also plans to run double stack containers and electrify about 45 per cent of the rail network.

US RAILROADS

Pointing out that US railroads need massive capacity creation, Mr E. Frankel, Senior Vice-President, PB Consult, USA, said, "US freight movement is expected to double in 20 years. Rail freight tonnage is expected to grow 45 per cent by 2020."

Investment in new capacity is costly as it competes with the need to maintain existing facilities and equipment, he said. Public and private sector are not ready to undertake investments alone, he added.

OTHERS

"Europe-specific electrified routes limit the use of double stack container movement. There are bottlenecks at the borders," shared a top official from Poland Railways. "We are facing bottlenecks at the inter-country borders," he added.