The Railways is unlikely to meet its traffic target for the current fiscal year.
It expects to close the year with 1,108 million tonnes of cargo, said a senior Board official on condition of anonymity. While this is more than the 1,098 mt cargo moved in 2014-15, it is lower than the budgeted target of 1,190 mt.
Referring to the Budget target set this year, the official said, “This was the projection of potential cargo that Railways could carry in a year, rather than the target. We have the capacity to carry much more cargo in the current fiscal, but there isn’t enough cargo on offer.”
The Railways carried 816.52 mt for the nine-month period till December this fiscal, a year-on-year rise of 8 mt.
“We have seen a drop in cargo from the cement, container traffic and foodgrain segment,” said the official. The cement sector is going through a rough patch. With pressure on the export-import imbalance, the container segment is getting hit and ocean freight rates are down. In the foodgrain segment, local procurement by States to lower their costs has led to a drop in cargo.
Meanwhile, the Railways has started meeting its customers such as fertiliser firms, container train operators, automobile train operators and potential parcel van users to deal with the additional cargo. Over the next few days, the Railways will meet companies from the cement, coal, foodgrain and petroleum products sectors, as it readies for the Budget.
The Railways has offered 8,000 luggage vans, which are attached with passenger trains, for parcel booking. Some 2,000 luggage vans are currently in use. This can be used by logistics firms and e-commerce majors to serve long-distance traffic.
“We are ready to offer them transit time guarantees, which was one of the demands,” said the official. However, the official declined to comment on whether Railways would lower freight tariff to capture more cargo.