The Hindu Business Line : Freight first!

There is good news and there is bad. The good news is that at last the Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad, has given the badly needed thrust for the freight business and got a master plan prepared for augmentation of line capacity on the vital 20,000 km on which 75 per cent of the freight moves. Costing Rs 75,000 crore, this will be completed in the next seven years and would also include the key Eastern and Western legs of the DFC (Dedicated Freight Corridors).

According to Mr Lalu Prasad this would ensure that the Eleventh Plan target of 1,100 million tonnes is achieved. But this would mean an additional 310 million tonnes in the next four years, which is a tough target to attain.

Financing tricky

The bad news is that financing may prove to be tricky. Though Mr Lalu has earmarked Rs 37,500 crore for 2008-09 with a generous provision of Rs 7,874 crore from the general exchequer (which includes Rs 774 crore of the Central Road Fund), it accounts for only 79 per cent of the annual outlay.

JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Agency), in its final report submitted a few months ago, laid down certain preconditions, including electrification of the western route, and it may not extend financial support for the project.

At present, diesel traction is the power of choice on this route since with no overhead electric wires movement of double- and even triple-stack containers provide high levels of productivity, which the 14 private players in the field of container transport would be loath to lose. Moving just double-stacks under the catenary would require special types of well wagons, at almost double the cost of the ordinary flat BLC wagons, an investment which private players, or even Concor, would not be too happy to make.

National projects

Additional funds, of Rs 1,712 crore, have been sought from the Finance Ministry to build national projects — Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramula, Jiribham -Imphal Road, Dimapur-Khima, Azra-Byrinhat, and Kumarghat-Agartala. In addition to this is the the construction of the 10-km-long Bogibeel-rail-cum-road bridge, and gauge conversion of the Lumding-Silchar-Jiribam and Rangia-Murgonksleek sections. All this is a part of the effort to link up with the North-East better, but this is unlikely to generate any significant amount of freight.

The Railway Minister has also proposed to create a non-lapsable North-East Development Fund to ensure speedy and time-bound completion of these works Two significant areas that have got increased allotment are doubling, at Rs 2,500 crore, and traffic facilities, Rs 984 crore. In addition, gauge conversion of 2150 km is proposed to be completed in 2008-09, a significant section being Ajmer-Phulera which should considerably help movement of double-stack containers from Delhi (Gurgaon), which at present is restricted to the Jaipur-Ajmer route.

And, among the new projects, gauge conversion of Ratlam-Indore-Khandwa-Akola section is at last being taken up, which augurs well for the freight business, as it provides a much needed second north-south link. With the movement of metre gauge wagons on this route having been reduced to a trickle, conversion to broad gauge is a welcome move, long overdue.

Upgraded wagons

With plans for manufacturing 20,000 wagons, 250 diesel and 220 electric locomotives in 2008-09, Mr Lalu Prasad has ensured that freight should not have to wait for means to carry it.

Realising the benefits of trials made over last few years, upgraded BOXN and BCN wagons will be made with stainless steel bodies, which, though they may cost about Rs 24 lakh each, against Rs 16 lakh for the IRSM 40 or Corten steel variety, will have much longer life and be more economical in the long run.

The lighter stainless steel wagons will also provide a higher payload and enable running 58 BCN wagon trains as against the present 45 wagon trains, increasing the trailing loads from 2,300 tonnes to 4,100 tonnes.

Mr Lalu Prasad has accordingly ordered about 5,000 wagons with stainless steel bodies to be built in 2008-09 to realise the full potential of the new design, providing a bonanza for SAIL’s plant at Salem and Jindal’s outfit at Bellary. A major move to upgrade capacity is the switchover to 22.5 tonnes from the existing 20.3-tonne axle load, and asking private builders to import technology for new wagon designs.

Technology focus

This is expected to yield a flood of new designs and innovations to replace the technologies of the 1970s and 1980s.

The Railway Minister has promised to simplify the procedures for certifying and accepting the wagons, with a crucial role to be played by the RDSO (Research Design and Standards Organisation) the R&D arm of the Railways and, most importantly, protect the intellectual property rights of the companies supplying the new wagon designs. Quite a tall order!

(The author is a former Member, Mechanical, Railway Board. E-mail: acharya@bol.net.in)

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