National Rail Plan to raise share of railways in freight to 40-45 per cent, says Economic Survey 

The Indian Railways has drawn up a National Rail Plan seeking to create a “future ready” railway system capable of meeting the passenger demand and increase the modal share of railways in freight to 40-45 per cent from the current 26-27 per cent.

“The target of 40-45 per cent modal share for railways is necessary from the perspective of sustainability and also from the national commitments made globally for reducing emission levels,” stated the Economic Survey.

During FY21, the Indian Railways carried 1.23 billion tonnes of freight and 1.25 billion passengers. Despite the pandemic, revenue earning freight loading (excluding loading by Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd (KRCL) was 1,230.9 million tonnes in 2020-21 as compared to 1,208.4 million tonnes during 2019-20).

The National Rail Plan lays down the roadmap for capacity expansion of the railway network by 2030 to cater to growth up to 2050. According to the plan, the freight ecosystem is expected to grow from the present level of 4,700 MT to 8,200 by 2030.

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“At present, the railway capacity is barely able to carry 1,220 MT which is around 26-27 per cent of the modal share. The plan provides a pipeline of projects, which on completion, will increase railway capacity to capture 45 per cent of freight traffic,” the Survey said.

Boosting railway capacity

Since the Railways already has a large number of sanctioned projects that need to be completed before taking up new projects, it has been planned to increase railway capacity in two surges. The first surge is to be provided by the Vision 2024 plan to prioritise and complete sanctioned projects so that railway capacity does not fall far behind the targeted modal share such that by the time capacity is finally created, the traffic would have shifted to another mode.

To prevent further bleeding away of modal share, railway capacity enhancing projects have been categorised as Super Critical and Critical. As many as 58 projects have been identified as Super Critical and are targeted for completion by December 2022; 68 projects have been identified as Critical and have been targeted for completion by March 2024. These projects are focussed at increasing capacity on routes that serve major mineral, industrial hubs along with ports and major consumption centres.

In addition to these critical projects, the Ministry of Railways has also targeted 100 per cent electrification of its network by December2023 upgrading the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata corridors to 160 kmph and also by eliminating level crossings on the Golden Quadrilateral/Golden Diagonal routes.

Increasing capex levels

On completion of Vision 2024 projects, in the second half of the decade, the aim is to commission new Dedicated Freight Corridors and also High-Speed Passenger Corridors, besides multitracking and signalling upgradation of congested routes.

The next 10 years will see a very high level of capex in the railway sector as capacity growth has to be accelerated such that by 2030, it is ahead of demand. Up to 2014, capex on railway was barely ₹45,980 crore per annum and consequently, the railway was characterised by high levels of inefficiency and highly congested routes unable to meet the growing demand. Post 2014, a conscious effort was made to improve the sector by substantially increasing the capex.

The capex outlay for 2021-22 is ₹2,15,000 crore which is more than five times the 2014 level. As more projects are taken on hand and several sources of capital funding are developed, the capex will increase further in coming years and the railway system will actually emerge as an engine of national growth, the Survey added.

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