The Railways has decided to offer a 20 per cent rebate on haulage charges and freight for transport of automobile, if booked on less popular routes. As per the list accessed by businessline, there are some 49-odd such ‘empty flow’ routes, where the traffic remains low and a discount is being offered for auto companies and component makers.

According to the January circular, rebates are being announced “in automobile loading stocks, when loaded in traditional empty flow directions” with a view “to generate additional traffic and revenue.”

Officials also explained that the rebates will help achieve “improved utilisation of automobile rolling stock by converting empty running of these stocks into loaded ones”.

The rebates will be applicable for a new modified group of stocks (NMG) apart from the ones like BCCNR and BCACM stocks which are used for carrying automobile stocks.

For the rebates to be applicable the “minimum offer of traffic shall be half rake of permitted stock”. As per the definition of the scheme applicability, an NMG rake shall have at least 12 wagons, for BCCNR there should be at least 14 wagons and for BCACM there should be a minimum of 20 wagons.

In Railway parlance, a rolling stock covers locomotives – steam, electric or diesel; freight cars or wagons; coaches, carriages or passenger cars and multiple units.

Scheme Details

According to officials, 20 per cent rebate will be applicable for automobile traffic when booked in permitted stocks at a pre-determined freight rate. A similar 20 per cent rebate is also applicable for those permitted commodities, which are transported in the permitted stocks and charged at applicable class rate of goods tariff.

Items covered under the scheme will include automobile, motor vehicle, spare parts or other machinery; lubricating oil like grease etc.

Short lead traffic of 100 km shall not be eligible under this scheme, the circular added.

Zonal Railway officials have been asked to review the scheme on a monthly basis.

Empty Flow Directions

The traffic flow continues to be low across specified routes in six zones of the Railways.

These include 12 routes of East Central Railway, 2 routes of East Coast Railway, 8 routes of Eastern Railway, 7 routes of South Eastern Railway, 19 routes of the North East Frontier Railway, and one of the South East Central Railway. Specific routes mentioned in the circular cover the East Central Railway and Central Railway zones including Danapur to Pune, Danapur to Bhusaval Junction and Danapur to Solapur, among others.

For the Eastern Railway – Central Railway zones the routes mentioned include Sealdah to Pune, Sealdah to Bhusaval, etc; the Eastern Railway – Southern Railway segment has routes like Malda to Chennai Central and Assansol to Chennai Central; among others.

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