Comments
The operation of automobile freight trains and the creation of automobile and ancillary hubs in partnerships with private firms are some of the policy initiatives of the Indian Railways, according to Rail Budget 2011-12.
However, it is felt by experts that the Indian Railways' bid to convert some container flats into two-stack semi-covered car carriers should be recast into a long-term strategy, more so in view of the growing business opportunity of transporting automobiles by rail.
Unfortunately, efforts so far in this regard have been half-hearted. More than a decade ago, the Railways started transportation of cars in used coaches in single-stack mode. One rake of standard wagons used for transportation of bagged commodities such as food-grains and cement was converted to transport cars.
Such exercises did not yield much revenue to the Railways, and perhaps this was only to be expected. More recently, in March 2010, the Railways launched an Autohub at Shalimar, Kolkata, but without addressing the key issues of the lack of proper rolling stock and its ownership.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.