More industries are planning to use the railways to transport freight, according to a new survey.

The Railway Freight Activity Optimism Index (RFAOI) for the third quarter of the year stands at 67, which is four points higher than the second quarter of 2022.

The RFAOI, which is a pan-India survey of rail freight users (industry and service providers) to gauge their optimism levels for rail freight activity in the forthcoming quarter, is compiled by Dun & Bradstreet in collaboration with Jupiter Group.

This indicates high optimism level of user industries and service providers, towards transporting goods through railways, said a statement.

The most optimistic regions

“Highest level of optimism is towards loading and unloading of goods (optimism index at 73),” it said, adding that businesses in the Eastern and Southern regions are the most optimistic with overall optimism index at 70 each.

Large businesses continue to be most optimistic towards volume improvement in domestic and export trade, it further said.

“Stable demand conditions and improved business continuity are leading to improvement in the logistics sector with railway freight, port traffic and air traffic picking up pace in India,” said Arun Singh, Global Chief Economist, Dun & Bradstreet.

Vivek Lohia, Director, Jupiter Wagons, said the survey reveals that more than 50 per cent of businesses who transport 26-75 per cent of their goods through railways intend to increase their share of goods transported through railways.

Amongst other factors, connectivity and transit time are key to realise this, he said.

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