With automobile makers are planning to increase the distribution of vehicles through rail transport by up to 30 per cent by 2027, the Indian Railways is focusing on redesigning its wagons to make it easier to transport cars and other vehicles.

Key automobile players including Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, and Mahindra and Mahindra are distributing their vehicles by rail transport across the country. The transport of vehicles through railways reduces carbon emissions and allows the direct path movement of vehicles to the designated states.

Automobile movement

Companies want to further increase their penetration in the transport of vehicles in the country onboard railway wagons.   

“In FY21-22, we dispatched nearly (including export vehicles till port) 15 per cent of our total sales by rail, and focus is being given to increasing this up to 30 per cent in the next 5-6 years,” said Deepak Thukral, Executive Officer, Parts & Accessories and logistics, Maruti Suzuki. 

Automobile dealers believe that the Indian Railways will become a major player in the automobile distribution network in the future due to the cost.

 “The vehicle movement by trains will be a game changer for dealers as well as cost per vehicle will be reduced, there will be a supply of a substantial number of vehicles and the transport time will be toned down drastically. A manufacturing plant in Pune wanting to transport to North-East can easily use rail transport much better than the road journey,” said Manish Raj Singhania, President, Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA).    The transport of automobiles onboard wagons witnessed spurge during the coronavirus pandemic and post-pandemic. With road transport being completely suspended during the lockdown imposed due to the spread of coronavirus, the automobile freight movement gained momentum. 

“As passenger trains were suspended during the lockdown the freight movement was happening. Automobile makers approached us for the transport of vehicles by railway wagons,” said a senior railway official. 

Designing of wagons

The railways developed high-speed automobile carriers in order to ensure the swift movement of automobiles. The carriers were designed from unused passenger coaches with a speed potential of 110 kmph and a higher payload of 12 tonnes. The coaches have wider openings, pavement markers, plate arrangements for smooth entry, and barrel locks.

“The increase in freight loading is due to several business development initiatives taken by Central Railway, including the infrastructure upgrade on Central Railway,” said Anil Kumar Lohati, General Manager, Central Railway. 

Coaches with side entry for two-wheelers were also designed by the Indian Railways, “The Central Railways Parel workshop in association with Research Designs and Standard Organisations (RDSO), Lucknow developed an automobile carrier with side entry and higher payload capacity,” said a railway official. 

The Central Railway in 2021, had transported vehicles in 197 wagons and earned a revenue of ₹31.08 crore while in 2022 up till September, the zonal railway transported vehicles in 482 wagons and earned ₹72.36 crore.

Last-mile connectivity  

While the Indian Railways have introduced schemes for automobile makers and plan to have multi-modal cargo terminals under ‘Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo’ across its zonal railways, the last-mile connectivity issues of the railways still pertain. 

“The last-mile connectivity for the movement of automobiles still remains a challenge. While there are policies and investments to improve it and talks to provide a logistic dedicated pathway in dedicated freight corridors the issues remain with terminals. Special facilities need to be created in manufacturing plants to load and unload directly. Facilitation of private investments in wagon needs to be undertaken to resolve the constraint,” said Subodh Jain, retired member (engineering) of the Railway Board. 

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