STRATEGIES FOR MEETING TRANSPORT DEMANDS

Role of Railways
by Ashutosh Banerji for RAILWATCH

The Indian economy enters the tenth plan with an expectation of 6% to 7% annual growth in the GDP and consequently 7.2% to 8.4% growth in the transport sector. These expectations place heavy demands on the already saturated road and rail transport system which coupled with the inadequacies in the power sector could be a major constraint in the realisation of the projected economic growth. With Airways, Coastal Shipping and Inland Waterways being in the fringes, freight transport in India is basically shared between Road and the Rail sectors. Both these sectors have not kept pace with the demands in terms of capacity as well as the quality of service. Strategies for capacity generation along with the technological inputs, matching investments and the institutional framework needed are the main focus of this paper. Road Transport Scenario The road network in India has grown from 4 lakh km. in 1951 to over 30 lakh km now second largest in the world. The quality, however, is indifferent. Half the network is made up of unpaved roads. A growth rate of 5.6% was sustained in the 60s. This picked up briefly to 8% in the 4th Plan. The progress thereafter has only been 3%. Geographical access defined as the road length per 1000 sq. km of area has increased from 122 km in 1951 to 700 km now. The South Zone has a better access of 800 km as compared to 465 in the North Zone. A plethora of agencies are vested with the responsibility for laying and maintaining roads. There is no coordination amongst these agencies. Salient features Freight Traffic has grown 90 times from 5.5 BTKM in 1951 to over 500 BTKM now. Passenger Traffic has grown 80 times from 23 to 1800 BPKM in the same period. National and State Highways comprising only 8% of the network carry 80% of the traffic. Less than 5% of the National Highways have 4 lanes. A 7 fold increase in the Network with 90 times increase in Vehicles has lead to extreme congestion. Network is beset with strip development and encroachments. No provision made for Right of Way to enable 4 laning from 2 lanes. A conscious decision to distribute resources thinly for constructing narrow lightly paved surfaces. Weak structurals with overloading have led to fast deterioration of the existing fragile infrastructure. Road Safety Our road safety performance is dismal with 2.65 deaths per 1000 registered vehicles, the

highest in the world. 80,000 fatalities and 1.7 million serious injuries with colossal losses exceeding Rs 550 billion per year is a matter of serious concern. With less than 1% of the worlds Vehicle population India contributes to 6% of the accidents. The technical deficiencies in the infrastructure coupled with ineffective policing and absence of emergency services has rendered road journey a virtual death trap. All this coupled with extreme congestion and low operating speeds have led to high cost and low quality of service for the road user. Yet the shipper consistently opts for the Road Transport. Strange but true. Railways need to sit up and take notice. Action Plan for Roadways

Upgrade construction specifications to International Standards. Replace manual paving by mechanised paving. Provide proper soling. Select agencies with appropriate infrastructure and qualified engineers. Enforce Axle load limitations. Induct Multi Axle Vehicles. Separate Up and Down traffic streams. Provide 4 lane Highway/ Expressway Control encroachments Deal with congestion Effective highway patrolling and put in place effective emergency service.

Investments Needed The investments needed are assessed* as Widening of single lane to 2 lanes Widening of 2 lanes to 4/6 lanes Widening of pavements etc. Construction of by passes Construction of Bridges Road Safety Works New Expressways Total 5200 km 14,000 km 15,000 km 40 470 2000km Rs 5200 Crores Rs 42000 Crores Rs 9000 Crores Rs 2000 Crores Rs 1000 Crores Rs 5000 Crores Rs 16,000 Crores Rs 80,000 Crores

* Asian Transport Journal June 1998. Future Directions in Road Sector in India. by Yogendra Narain former Secretary Surface Transport GOI. Recent Initiatives In the recent years exciting things have been happening in the Road Sector. Setting up of National Highway Authority in 1995 and Road Development Corporations by some of the states are the key milestones of putting in place institutional mechanism with greater autonomy and faster decision making capability. Levying of cess on Petrol and Diesel to generate the Central Roads Fund has lent financial teeth to the execution of road

development projects. A National Highway Development Plan (NHDP) has been launched which envisages amongst others 4/6 laning of over 13,000 km of Golden Quadrilateral Network linking the Metropolitan cities of Delhi Kolkata Chennai and Mumbai. This project is targeted for completion by December 2003. Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Silchar to Saurashtra sectors are targeted for completion by 2007. Major Ports are also to be connected to the Golden Quadrilateral Network. While executing these projects, issues relating to Traffic Management, Encroachments, Overloading, Road Safety, Corridor Management, Financing and removal of Non Physical Barriers are receiving attention. Investments of Rs 54,000 crores have been committed for these projects. This along with an appropriate institutional mechanism backed by a strong political support and commitment have lent impetus to the project execution. Induction of Multi Axle Vehicles (MAVs) would considerably enhance the payload carrying capacity of trucks. The road sector in India is now poised to witness a vastly improved service delivery in the coming years. Sharing of Traffic

Sharing of Freight Traffic between Road and Rail

Year 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 Wake up Call

Rail BTKM 250 271 278 284 282 288 316 326

Road BTKM 375 411 432 450 468 487 507 527

Rail % 40 40 39 39 38 37 38 38

Road % 60 60 61 61 62 63 62 62

Railway share of Freight Traffic has declined from 89% in 1951 to 38%

now.

Golden Quadrilateral Road Network and Induction of Multi Axle Road Vehicles will make a serious dent Even heavy duty Bulk Transport may not remain the exclusive preserve of the Railways. To reverse this trend instead of crystal gazing it may be worthwhile to review our performance over the last five decades and evolve appropriate strategies. Overview of Rail Transport

Growth of Freight Traffic since First Plan

Year Revenue Loading Total Loading BTKM Revenue BTKM Total

1950-1951 1960-1961 1970-1971 1980-1981 1990-1991 2000-2001

73.0 119.8 167.9 195.9 318.4 473.6

93.0 156.2 196.5 220.0 341.4 495.0

38 72 111 148 235 317

44 88 127 158 243 319

Post independence the Railways made a flying start almost doubling the transport output in the first 5 year Plan. There was however a perceptible slowing down from 1968 to 1980 followed by a revival in the last two decades. Growth of Traffic in Successive Decades Pattern of traffic growth in successive decades is another way of looking at the trend.

Increase in
1 Decade 2nd Decade 3rd Decade 4th Decade 5th Decade
st

Million Tonnes BTKM 63 44 40 39 23 31 122 85 153 76

Traffic Growth in the last two decades has been impressive.

A quantum jump from 196 to 474 million tonnes in originating loading and from 148 to 317 BTKM in throughput has been achieved. Overall from 1980 to 2000 it has grown at a linear rate of 7%. The last decade has witnessed a growth of 4.9% Future Projections

In the last year of the ninth plan an originating loading of 485 million tonnes and a BTKM of 326 is expected. For the tenth Plan the growth rate has been scaled down to 2.5%. This does not seem to match the overall growth rate for the economy. Growth of Rail Infrastructure and Transport Output 1951 53,596 2000 Index 62,759 117

Route Kilometres

Track Kilometres Locomotives Passenger Coaches Wagons Revenue Loading mt. Passengers (millions) BTKM BPKM

62,916 8209 19,628 200,596 73 1284 38 67

81,252 7517 41,348 244,419 456.4 4585 305 431

129 92 211 122 625 357 802 643

Implementation of successive Five Year Plans has been a success story for the Railways. Increase of mere 17% in the Network, 111% in Passenger Fleet, 22% in the Wagon Fleet and net reduction of 8% in the Locomotive Fleet has delivered a growth of over 800% in Freight and 600% in Passenger Traffic. The Railways have served the National economy well. This was made possible by certain significant policy initiatives taken in the 1st and the 4th Decades of its existence. Another 60 BTKM is required to be lifted in the tenth Plan period. Policy Initiatives The traffic growth on the Indian Railways has been triggered by certain significant policy initiatives in the initial years and again in the fourth decade. Some of these are Early Years Nationalisation and Regrouping of Railways into 6 viable Zones. Construction of Assam Link Massive Programme for Rehabilitation of Assets. Modernisation of Traction Setting up of Production Units. Induction of Steel Bodied Integral Coaches Induction of heavy duty BOX wagons. These along with the Diesel Locos broke the transport bottleneck in the Coal Steel Complex of Eastern India. Induction of Roller Bearings and CBC in Freight Cars. Improvement in Track Geometry followed by up gradation of Track Structure. Capacity builds up for Manufacture of Wagons. Modernisation of Signalling. 4th Decade

High productivity Rolling Stock was segregated from plain bearing, four wheeler and screw coupling stock. End to end running of High Productivity Stock was enforced bye passing intermediate examination and change of Power. BOXN wagon design equipped with Air Brakes and Cast Steel Bogies

was approved and Manufacture undertaken. Railway System was stretched to the limits of its capability and weaknesses in the infrastructure identified. Purposefulness was injected in Investment Decisions. Projects aimed at expanding system capacity and selective elimination of deficiencies were preferentially executed. Capacity expansion, System Reliability and Safety in operation received priority. Discipline was enforced and militancy in trade unions curbed. In the management team as well men were separated from boys and no nonsense managers were given key assignments. Transport Capacity Generation The issue relating to the declining share of Railways in the Freight traffic matrix has to be viewed in conjunction with the transport capacity generated by the Road and the Rail sectors. Some approximate data in this regard for the last decade is presented in the table and the Chart below. Year 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 Roads BTKM Railways BTKM 22 12 15 13 20 9 22 5 39 8 52 1 33 15 31 12 44 9 36 9

In the decade that has gone by Railways created 135 BTKM of Transport

Capacity against 368 BTKM by the Road Sector. It is nobodys case that Road Transport should not develop adequate capacity. It is the sluggish growth of Railways that is disquieting. A strategy for arresting the declining share of Railways in the Freight Traffic matrix needs to be evolved. Investments and Technological inputs for closing this gap brook no delay. An institutional arrangement for implementing the action plan needs to be put in place. Strategies for Railways

Enhance Transport Capacity Improve Quality of Service Market penetration Institutional Arrangements

Enhance Transport Capacity We are in Transport business. Trailing loads and operating speeds are our principal efficiency indicators. Within the limitations of a loop length of 686 meters and the existing and proposed Track Loading Density of 7.67 and 8.25 tonnes per meter the options are

Higher Axle Loads Higher Operating Speeds Increasing number of Axles per Wagon

Higher Axle Loads

Axle Load in tonnes No. of Vehicles Trailing Load in tonnes Track Loading Density t/m *With CC+2t

20.32 58 4831* 7.67

23.0 25.0 58 58 5410 5800 8.25 8.82

11 % higher throughput with 23t Axle Load and 20 % with 25t Axle Load can be achieved With 25 t Axle Load Track Loading Density would need to be relaxed to 8.8 t/m. Rail Wear already a matter of concern and may be aggravated by higher Axle Loads. Higher operating speed may not be possible with higher Axle Loads. Higher Axle Loads appear to be a capital intensive solution. Reduce Axle Loads This can be achieved through the concept of a 3 Axle Bogie.

Broad Design parameters Axle Load Gross Weight Tare Weight Pay Load Wheel Diameter Length over Couplers Length over Headstocks Wagons per Rake Gross Trailing Load Track Loading Density Benefits

18.8 t 112.8 t 30.5 t 82.3 t 840 mm 13.7 m 12.77 m 46 5200 t 8.24 t/m

This design of Wagon will afford a welcome relief to the Indian Railways track which is under distress due to accelerated wear, premature renewals and mounting overdues. Operating speeds of 90 and 100 km/h would be easily achievable. 10 to 12% additional throughput would be delivered. Wagon would cost some what, more compensated by savings in Track Maintenance and higher productivity. Makes sound economic sense to invest in Rolling Stock rather than increase arisings of track renewals. Finished steel would be added to the basket of commodities that can be transported. Suggestions We now consider a few suggestions. Freight Business The basket of commodities hauled by Railways would need to be increased. The present designs are not enough. Commodity specific wagons will have to be placed on line to increase market penetration. Railways share of Non Bulk cargo is only 2 to 3 % of the arisings. Trucks carry even long distance traffic. Non Bulk traffic between metropolitan cities is estimated to be 150 million tonnes per annum. If adequate capacity is created, container traffic in this segment can grow from prevailing 9 million tonnes to 39 million tonnes by 2007. A larger share can be garnered by putting in place multi modal integrated total logistic solutions. Strategic alliance could be formed with road transporters to package high quality transport solutions for less than rake load customer. The freight car fleet needs to be modernised and equipped with track friendly bogies. Passenger Business

Passenger tariff should be rationalised. The cross subsidy between Passenger and Freight Traffic should be phased out with some urgency. A clientele is fast

developing which demands high quality service and is prepared to pay whatever it takes to provide that service. Rail Transport is claimed to be at least 4 times more energy efficient than Road. Yet it is not reflected in the Rail tariff that for most commodities and for many distance slabs is in excess of the road tariff. This needs correction. Railways should get out from short distance passenger business making room for the road transport to take over. Such poorly patronised services approximately 3200 in number are a drain on Railway finances and consume valuable line capacity.

Railways should disengage from commuter services. Independent Suburban Railway Authorities with equity participation by Railways, State Governments and local bodies should be set up with full responsibility for operation, maintenance, fixing tariff and raising resources. Workshops

Railway Production Units should be formed into autonomous Corporations. Indian Railways have around 50 maintenance workshops with excellent industrial structures, machinery and plant and covered space backed by a team of competent supervisors and artisans. These facilities are not fully utilised. Railways should explore the possibility of leasing out these assets on wet or dry lease terms. Railway Projects

Over the years the Railways have accumulated a large shelf of projects. Many of these (such as 74 Gauge Conversion Projects with throw forward of Rs 8500 Crores and 81 New Line Projects with throw forward of Rs 19,000 Crores) would never get completed yet continue to bleed the resources of Railways through nominal allocations. A committee of experts should review the pending projects for traffic justification and economic viability. In the interim these should be put on the back burner. Projects aimed at expanding system capacity, quality of service and customer focus should receive priority. Organisational Issues A number of learned consultants and expert groups have examined this aspect and suggested wide ranging structural reforms. We need to proceed with caution. The strength of Railways lies in its clear cut chain of command in operational matters. That should not be interfered with. Following issues deserve consideration

Policy making, regulatory functions and business operations need to be separated. The present management structure comprising proliferation of departments beset with conflict of objectives and a decision making level far removed from the area of operations is not amenable to quick and customer friendly responses. The existing departments could be consolidated into 3 or 4 departments. Mono disciplinary hierarchy should be replaced by multi disciplinary

structure integrated on business lines. Railways should disengage from non core activities. Pending final exit these should be separated from business operations. Concluding Remarks In conclusion we have to acknowledge the contribution of the Indian Railways in supporting the national economy right through. Despite plummeting budgetary support, traffic demands were fulfilled through modernisation of assets and induction of appropriate technology. In recent years the Railways are faced with an operational and financial crisis. Bold initiatives to meet the challenge are needed. We are aware that to meet the challenge the Railways have to reform. Railways have to restructure and have to even go through the painful process of rightsizing. Yet the Railway community is hopeful that the support and political will displayed in case of Road sector will visit the Railways as well, so that the Railways do not wither away for want of investments. The present happenings are just awake up call. There is no need for panic or knee jerk reactions. Reforms and restructuring are inevitable. Yet while implementing these we need to take care that the baby is not thrown out with the bath water.

Choice of Traction - Options before the Railways

General: Terms of reference of the Committee are fairly comprehensive and a bit difficult to be addressed in a compressed time span. A Preliminary Report may be preferable. Both sides have presented a very strong case with regard to the choice of traction, taking up uncompromising stands. There is an emotional undercurrent bordering on religious fervor, which renders objective assessment somewhat difficult. Many views are based upon impressions. These impressions will need to be replaced by facts. Landmines of incomplete information and data torn out of context will have to be negotiated. There is an impression that modernization of traction from Steam to Electric is akin to the natural process of evolution from monkey to man. This needs to be replaced by a scientific evaluation Similarly depleting fossil fuel resources need to be viewed in the context of the overall energy matrix and not in isolation. Railways consume 1.7% of Diesel and 1.8% of electric power for Traction purposes. Availability of energy both Diesel and Electric, as such, is not likely to be the limiting condition in choice of traction. The matrix would need to be determined by what makes sound economic sense. In the post independence resurgence of Indian Railways, both forms of Traction, Diesel and Electric, have played a significant role. The Committee at this juncture does not

have a clean slate on which to recommend uniform adoption of a particular traction. These need to coexist and develop further as per techno economic considerations and the requirements of traffic. In the initial years electrification was progressed on a rational basis after due examination of the technical, operational and economic parameters. Subsequently, however, the exercise witnessed major dilution, giving up all norms of break even, traffic support and financial justification. Nebulous arguments such as cleaning of the route, terminal to terminal wiring, through running with electric traction were presented. Electrification of Sidings and Yards was taken up in a big way. The Committee are expected to carry out a comparative financial evaluation of both forms of Traction, covering Capital Costs, Line Haul Costs along with the operating capability to recommend the most pragmatic way forward. Certain distortions have crept into the manner in which some of Statistical data needed for these evaluations have been compiled. While it is not expected of the Committee to rewrite the Annual Statistical Statements of the Government, it would be necessary to identify clearly the nature and extent of the distortions and the manner in which these could be eliminated in future statistical compilations. In any case, the Committee in their internal assessments should make use of the corrected data and not solely rely upon the published statistics. Needless to emphasize the recommendations will have to consider the fact that with progressive extension of electrification, Diesel Locomotives have been relegated to branch lines and single line sections with inferior signaling and track structure. Operations in such environment are unlikely to deliver the full potential of the asset utilization in respect of Diesel Locomotives. For evaluating the comparative operating capabilities and economic viability, it would be desirable to induct a few modern 4000 Horse Power Diesel Locomotive in heavy duty high density routes under the wire. No doubt Electrification has advanced substantially. This by itself does not resolve the issues relating to the choice of traction for Indian Railways. For sustaining this infrastructure, continuous inputs by way of replacement of contact wire, catenaries, insulators, transformers and circuit breakers along with up gradation of sub-stations would be needed. The financial burden is further enhanced by a large number of sections delivering negative rate of return. Option of roll back wherever financially justified will need to be considered in the backdrop of this growing expenditure. The current rhetoric of cleaning of the Section and extending wiring from end to end covering all Sidings and Yards will have to give way to a more practical and financially viable approach. There is an impression that institution of CORE in order to sustain itself, may have been instrumental in accelerated implementation of electrification even without traffic support and financial justification. Perhaps the civil contactors lobby may also have spurred it on. These are serious issues on which the Committee needs to take a view. Indian Railways today are at the crossroads. The way forward for survival has necessarily to be based upon financial prudence, conservative investment decisions and a sharp focus on core business. In this context, the luxury of supporting two departments

for Rolling Stock maintenance and operation needs an urgent review. The duplication of infrastructure facilities, machinery and plant, manpower and inventory are placing a heavy financial burden on the Railways. This apart from internecine differences is not conducive for smooth management of operations. Setting up of a unified department of Rolling Stock Maintenance and Operations at all levels covering Railway Board, Workshops and Open Line Depots will result in substantial economies and efficiency in operation. Operations: 1. There is a viewpoint that the electrification clutters up the tracksides, yards and passenger complexes with masts and wires. With restricted elbow and headroom, crane operation for loading and unloading of consignments is not possible. In case of accidents, restoration operations are rendered difficult on account of obstruction presented by the catenaries, contact wires and the traction masts. Operationally, as well, double stack carriage of containers as is prevalent in the U.S.A., is not possible on the Indian Railways even on tunnel free routes due to the limited clearance imposed by the contact wires. Similarly, flexibility in roll on roll off operations is also severely limited on electrified sections. Overhead equipment and power grids bring additional elements of unreliability into the system. Electrified sections are extremely vulnerable to enemy action, vandalism and adverse weather conditions. End to end running that has been the hallmark of Indian Railways operations since 1980, has been obstructed by a mixture of electrified and non-electrified territories. Operation has been slowed down with frequent change of traction and requirement of locomotives for both Diesel and Electric Traction have reflected an increase. Placement and withdrawal of rakes from sidings that was possible with train engine itself in case of Diesel Traction is not always practicable with A.C. Traction. Wiring of Sidings and Yards has considerably enhanced the financial burden due to electrification. In a recent case on the Central Railway by rationalization, the links which involve amongst others running of Diesel Locomotives under the wires, as many as 17 Locomotives with a capital cost of Rs.70 crores was saved by permitting a comprehensive diesel link. It has been argued that discounting the inputs from modernization of signaling, replacement of vacuum braked Rolling Stock by air braked Rolling Stock and replacement of fabricated bogies by cast steel bogies, electrification per se has not contributed to any significant improvement in sectional capacity. In fact the system reliability has been adversely affected due to the injection of additional ingredients in the infrastructure in the shape of contact wire, catenaries, substation and State Electricity Boards brought in by the 'track in the sky' The Railways in the best of times are struggling to provide maintenance blocks for track maintenance, have now to contend with the traffic blocks for OHE maintenance. An integrated block in most situations remains a distant dream. In any case when breakdowns occur, the Track in the Sky and the Track on the Ground disrupt operations separately. In many instances operating flexibility gets severely limited on account of restrictions placed on a number of trains that can occupy a particular section arising from

considerations of sub-stations capacity. In multiple operations, restrictions are placed on the maximum permissible variation in wheel diameter of the locomotives. The facility of quick redeployment of the Diesel Locomotives fleet to suit the surges in operation is rarely possible in Electric Traction. The Committee needs to take a view on these observations of the Traffic Officers in the field. Energy Scenario Against a total demand of 480 billion kwh the actual availability in the country is 451 giving a shortfall of 29 billion kwh reflecting a shortage of 24.8%. Railway Electric Traction consumes 7.4 billion kwh contributing to nearly 25% of the shortage. This shortage is partially made good by Diesel Generators in domestic circuit and in light industrial establishments. The large part of the shortfall results in irreversible loss of production. It has been agreed that the increasing requirement of electrical power for Railway Traction may worsen the situation. The power tariff is a matter of concern. The State Electricity Boards treat Railways as a milch cow and place heavy financial burden through sudden spurts in tariff. In order to combat the levying of excessive power tariff by the State Electricity Boards, there is a move to draw power directly from the NTPC feeders. However, enormous costs are involved in linking the connecting transmission lines and we may well end up throwing good money after bad. We need to tread carefully. Further, the cost of electrical energy has increased at a pace faster than the cost of Diesel. Mughalsarai-Kanpur Electrification was justified on a power tariff of 7 Paise from the Rihand Dam authorities. Today, the unit cost is Rs.4.39. In the same period, the Diesel costs have increased from 64 Paise per litre to Rs.17.00 in 2001-02. In other words, against 26 times increase in Diesel cost, Electric Power has gone up 63 times between 1963 and 2001. While deciding upon the mix of traction on the Indian Railways, we have to appreciate that both forms of energy are vital for development of the national economy. Railways consume 1.7% of POL products and 1.8% of the national power generation. Sectors such as Road Transport, Aviation, Coastal Shipping, International Shipping and Inland Waterways both for Civil and Defense Services are totally dependant upon the POL products. Electrification of these services is not technically feasible. If we were looking for a scenario wherein the Fossil Fuels totally disappear, there would be no economy left, domestic or global for apportioning to the two energy sources. In practical terms, we have to think of an energy mix that is in the national interest. It makes poor economic sense to selectively use electrification on the Railways and the shortfall in the Electric Power Sector being compensated by inefficient diesel generators and setting up POL based Power Plants. Overall 1.7% of the total POL consumption in the country is allocated to the Railways. Given the efficient use of the Fossil Fuel by the Railways, a larger share of Diesel Traction in movement of traffic would substantially bridge the shortfall in Electrical Power and improve its availability for the Industrial and Agricultural sectors. Government is planning massive inputs (Rs 54,000 Crores in

the Phase I) for the expansion of the road network with commensurate increase in POL consumption. In this scenario despite larger share of Diesel traction, the consumption of POL products on the Railways in percentage terms may not reflect any increase Fuel Efficiency The energy consumption in the two modes of traction for moving 1000 GTKM are as under: Amount Diesel Electric 4.82 liters 20.6 kwh 2.96 liters 8.28 kwh Kcal Diesel Electric 42252 66892 25948 26887

Passenger Traffic Freight Traffic The figures are self-explanatory.

Source: The Annual Statistical Statement of the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Power. Load Hauling Capacity Diesel Traction was ushered into the Indian Railways in the year 1957 with the import of 100 WDM1 Locomotives followed by 100 WDM2 Locomotives in 1960 and setting up of manufacturing facilities in DLW in 1962. It is unfortunate that Indian Railways persisted with this design with only minor improvements/up gradations till the year 2000. Now, State of Art 4000 H.P. AC/AC locomotives have been imported with transfer of technology. These Locomotives, based in Hubli Diesel Shed, are now working only on a limited circuit for moving Iron Ore. The full operating capabilities of these Locomotives can only be realised if these are tried out in high density Coal, Steel and Cement circuits.. It does not make any sense in comparing 2600/3100 H.P. first generation Diesel Locomotives with modern 6000 H.P. ABB Electric Locos. The comparison should be made with the 4,000 H.P. General Motor Diesel Locomotives. The superior performance can be seen from the table below: Diesel Diesel Electric Electric (3100 HP) (4000 HP) (4000 HP) (6000 HP) 0.36 0.42 0.31 0.37 40.5 t 53 t 38 t 47 t 2750 t 3655 t 2200 t 3205 t 3705 t 4840 t 3150 t 4250 t

Adhesion Starting Tractive 1 in 100 1 in 150

While making comparative evaluation of load hauling capabilities of Diesel and A.C. Electric Locomotives, it has to be borne in mind that unlike the A.C. Locomotives, the Diesel Locomotives are a constant Horse Power Machine. In other words, in a particular throttle position, the Diesel Locomotive delivers a fixed amount of torque and consequently a fixed Horse Power. It would consistently deliver 4,000 Horse Power in the 8th notch position. In sharp contrast, the maximum Horse Power of 6,000

in an A.C. Electric Locomotive is a combination of the maximum permissible voltage and the maximum permissible current that is delivered only in one particular combination of trainload and operating speed. On account of this basic difference in characteristics, a 4,000 Horse Power Diesel Locomotive is able to start and haul a load of 4840 ton at a 150 gradient against 4250 ton only by the 6000 Horse Power A.C. Electric Locomotive. Incomplete comprehension of this situation often results in erroneous expectations of operating capabilities.

Line Haul Costs There is a viewpoint that computation of line haul costs of the two modes of traction suffer from certain infirmities.

There is a perception that Capital Cost of Electrification has not been properly reflected in various financial evaluations, including computation of rate of return. It is argued that cost of Power Plant, cost of transmission to the Railway Substation, cost of Sub-station, cost of OHE, cost of catenary, contact wire, insulators and other paraphernalia, apart from the cost of locomotive and electric loco shed, should enter into reckoning. It is difficult to accept that this capital cost will be comparable for both Diesel and Electric Traction. As per one assessment, the capital cost of Diesel Traction for locomotive has been placed at Rs.3.66 crores against Rs.49.91 crores for Electric Traction. These are stunning figures, may even have an element of exaggeration, yet need to be looked at closely. In many cases the capital cost of Electrification has been retained with CORE and not transferred to Zonal Railways resulting in improved financial performance than what is obtaining. For instance, in the year ending March 2001, CORE has a capital at charge of Rs.4148 crores. This does not make sense and should have been allocated to the concerned Zonal Railway for reflection in the operating ratio. The investments on Electrification are subjected to an interest rate of 7% only. This is not realistic. The capital at charge does not include out-station depots. The distribution of IRFC lease charges to the two forms of Traction is made on an ad hoc basis of locomotive holdings, instead of in proportion of the investments made. For instance, the actual expenditure on manufacture of A.C.

locos from 1987 to 2000 is Rs.4698 Crores and Diesel Locomotives Rs.2000 Crores, but actual bookings under the IRFC lease charges have been Rs.485 Crores for Diesel Traction and Rs.360 Crores for A.C. Traction. This needs correction. The common facilities such as accident relief and other breakdown services are charged entirely to Diesel Traction. Shunting locomotives that cater for all the services, are charged exclusively to Diesel Traction. Similar distortions exist in respect of running staff expenditure allocations. The full cost of OHE maintenance is not reflected. In a number of cases these have been transferred to special repairs pertaining to natural calamities. These need to be looked at.

Overall, the Committee would be well advised not to rely entirely upon the published statistics, as in a number of cases, these are based upon wrong assumptions. A proper audit should be conducted by the Committee to separate facts from impressions. In fact, studies by the Committee may result in long-term elimination of such distortions. The line haul costs in Rs. per 1000 GTKM as these are compiled now are as under: Diesel Traction Freight 76.49 Reliability Electrification, apart from the capital cost, also brings in unreliability. It is well known that reliability of equipment depends upon the number of components that go into its operations. With the addition of sub-stations, overhead equipment, transmission lines, and the State Electricity Boards, the unreliability factor of the system gets magnified. Vulnerability to sabotage and enemy action is one of its principal weaknesses. Ability to withstand onslaughts of weather is also rather poor Suggested Case Studies for the Committee. In order to assess the operating capability and economic viability of the two modes of Traction in actual field conditions, it may be desirable to conduct a pilot study on the Bisrampur Sabarmati Coal Circuit. This Section had adopted end-to-end running with intensively examined Rolling Stock hauled by WDM2 Diesel Locomotives, from 1976 to 1994. By judicious use of fresh powers from New Katni Diesel Shed and Carriage & Wagon examination under empty condition, it was possible to bypass the New Katni and all subsequent yards till destination in the loaded direction. Despite Katni-Bina and Bhopal-Ujjain being on single line, a very high level of rake utilisation was achieved. Subsequently, the performance improved further with the doubling of Katni- Bina Section and replacement of Vacuum Brake Stock by Air Brake Stock equipped with Cast Steel Bogies. The Committee would need to compare the performance achieved with Diesel Traction in those years with the present performance with A.C. Traction. Rake utilisation, turn rounds, number of locos deployed will need to be compared. A few 4000 Passenger 129.78 Electric Traction Freight 75.86 Passenger 137.20

hp WDG4 locomotives based in New Katni shed could be injected in this circuit for assessing the comparative performance. The above observations are made in the context of a sharp decline in the Rate of Return initially projected and actually achieved. The figures for some of the sections are: ROR Bina - New Katni Tughlakabad-Jhansi Jhansi-Itarsi Balharshah-Vijayawada Delhi - Ambala Indore - Ujjain Projected 25% 22% 24% 41% 14.5% 16% Actual Negative 7% 9% 2% - 10.3% -74%

The Comptroller and the Auditor General of India in his report of December 1999 has commented that Railways spent Rs 110 Crores on AC Traction for moving 11.8 btkm on Bina New Katni. The expenditure would have been limited to Rs 69 Crores had Diesel Traction been employed. Another study that may be of interest would be the operating performance of Central Railway before it was electrified. In the early 80's despite the severe constraint of single line working on New Katni-Bina and Itarsi-Balharshah Section, predominance of Vacuum Brake Stock, a locomotive utilisation of around 20,000 Net Tonne Kilometer per Engine hour was achieved with 2400 hp WDM2 locomotives. We need to compare this with the present performance with A.C. locomotives of 4000 to 6000 hp. It may also be interesting to inject a few Diesel Locomotives of 4000 Horse Power on the KK Line based in the Waltair Diesel Shed. This would enable a comparative evaluation of the operating capabilities of the two modes of Traction on this heavy duty severely graded section. Concluding Remarks. There is no black or white in the context of a pragmatic traction policy for the Indian Railways. It is prudent to accept the shades of gray. We do not have the benefit of starting from a clean slate. The electrification has progressed up to a certain point and we have to chart a practical course for the future.

Electric traction is most suited for busy suburban sections, Metro Rail and Light Rail Transit systems on urban conglomerates with frequent stops/starts. Main focus of attention of Electrification should be aimed towards strengthening and improving reliability of these services. Priority should be assigned to conversion from D.C. to A.C. Traction in Bombay suburban area, electrification of Calcutta Circular Railway and extension of the Calcutta Metro from Tollygunge to Garia and other Light Rail Transit systems in urban areas.

All Electrification Projects over the main line/branch lines of the Indian Railways that do not fulfill the norms for break even and Rate of Return are immediately frozen. End to end running of Freight trains should be restored wherever necessary by running diesel locomotives under the wires. In compilation of statistics of line haul costs certain distortions have crept in. The Committee may evolve recommendations for rectifying these distortions. The final view on choice of traction necessarily has to be based upon what the Railways can afford both as initial cost as well as cost of sustaining a particular form of traction. The requirements of traffic have to be kept in sharp focus. In electrified sections where the expected rate of return is not achieved, Diesel locomotives should progressively be injected and the section in course of time is de-energized. The sub-station equipments should be moved elsewhere and the other materials such as traction masts, contact wire, catenary, insulators be kept in a bank for use on other sections. The policy concerning electrification of sidings, yards and maintenance complexes should be reviewed. The Central Organisation for Railway Electrification should be wound up and the activities as may remain, should be transferred to the concerned General Manager/Chief Administrative Officer (Construction). The Committee may also examine the financial implications of the Indian Railways supporting and sustaining two departments for maintenance and operation of Rolling Stock. A unified Rolling Stock Department would result in substantial economies apart from eliminating internecine differences.

ACTION PLAN FOR RAILWAYS

Indian Railways are at the crossroads. They have an unfinished agenda of expanding system capacity, improving quality of service and ensuring safety in operation. These require massive investments that are difficult to come by. Budgetary support has dwindled from 75% in the 5th Plan to 18% and generations of internal resources have declined sharply due to misadventures in investment decisions. The railways are not able to contribute to the depreciation Reserve fund for asset replacements and have even deferred payment of dividends to the general Revenues. To put it mildly they are in a financial mess. In order to get out of this situation the Railways need to launch a bold and imaginative action Plan, principle features of which are outlined hereunder: 1. 2. Modernisation is the plank on which the strategy for expanding transport capacity and improving quality service along with safety in operation, should primarily be placed. While executing Projects, the Planners and Managers should not be deterred by initial paucity of resources and proceed with the task of building up the infrastructure as per the desired specifications. If the investments fall short of the needs of the Project, progress could be adjusted, but the expediency of diluting the specifications should not

be resorted to. 3. 4. Accelerate adoption and develop indigenous manufacturing capability of Fuel/Energy efficient High Horse Power ac Electric and Diesel Electric Locomotives. A lean well muscled fleet of high productivity freight stock should be built up. The existing complement of vacuum brake stock should be phased out rapidly. Following measures need to be taken in this regard : Freight Cars

Induct Track friendly Self Steering Bogie Composite Brake Blocks Truck Mounted Brakes UIC Stock (BOX, BCX) is 3 to 4 times more prone to accidents as compared to BOXN, BCN Stocks. These along with all Vacuum Brake Stock both Four Wheeler and Bogies should be phased out in a compressed time span of three to five years through condemnation or selective conversion to air brakes. The Vacuum Brake Bogie Stock with residual life of over 15 years may be equipped with Cast Steel Bogies and Air Brakes. Stop manufacture of new UIC Bogies. C type repairs of unloadable BOX Wagons should be suspended. BOX Wagons requiring heavy body repairs or replacement of UIC bogies should be laid aside. There should be no upward revision of the code life of Freight Stock. In fact, in order to minimise routine maintenance, ensure reliability in service and safety in operation, there is a strong case for reducing the active service life of BOX Wagons to 25 years.

5.

Our passenger policy should be pragmatic and non ideological. Fast transit times, high standards of catering , cleanliness and riding comfort should be provided to a clientele that is prepared to pay for such service. We should concentrate upon inter state and inter city services. We should get out from short distance passenger business making room for the road transport to take over. Stopping passenger trains which are a great drag on the sectional capacity should be phased out with a sense of urgency. Cross subsidies from freight to passenger business should be phased out. Passenger services in India in many instances are introduced as populist measure rather than as a well thought out project. Inadequate resources and incomplete preparations perpetuate poor quality services. It may be desirable to legislate prior approval of the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance before introducing new services. This may bring about some objectivity. In the interim, approval of the Commissioner for Railway Safety should be stipulated.

6. 7.

8. 9.

10. The railways should disengage from commuter services. Independent Suburban Railway Authorities for each Metropolis with equity participation by Railways, State Govt. and local bodies should be set up with full responsibility for operations, maintenance, fixing

tariff and raising resources. 11. From considerations of Safety and Quality of Service, the Coaching Stock should incorporate the following features :

Improve Structural strength and Corrosion Resistance Provide Centre Buffer Coupler with Anti Climbing Feature Incorporate Anti Telescopic Features Improve Fire Resistance of Body and Furnishings Provide UIC Vestibule Provide Emergency Exits Provide Disk Brakes

12. A five year programme for increasing the track loading density from 7.67t/m to 8.25 t/m and eventually to 8.33 t/m should be launched. High productivity freight cars should be redesigned to permit higher axle loads and resultant higher pay load to tare ratio. 13. The freight trains have to frequently negotiate turn outs resulting in heavy loss of time due to the crippling speed restrictions. Provision of 1 in 16 and 1 in 20 curved switches on the high density routes coupled with freight stock equipped with self steering bogies would materially enhance sectional capacity. 14. The Railways should get out from Catering business. In the first instance a Catering Corporation under the Ministry of Railways should be formed to oversee these operations. 15. A Stations Authority of Indian Railways should be constituted to take over maintenance and upkeep of stations along with provision of all amenities to the passengers, covering vehicle parking, enquiry, passenger information system, catering, baggage handling, ticketing and the like. This authority will be funded by a fixed percentage of passenger earnings which could be mutually decided with the railways. This measure will protect the Railways from the present distortions in provision of passenger amenities which are based on political lobbying rather than sale of tickets. 16. Railways have a well structured method for evaluating projects. Further execution of Gauge Conversion should be taken up only after such detailed evaluation. Routes already converted should first be made viable by selective elimination of bottlenecks and objective marketing. 17. Electrification should not be pursued as a logical process of evolution from steam to diesel to electric similar to man from monkey. With modern fuel efficient diesel locomotives, shortage of electric power for other more pressing needs, the ongoing electrification projects should be reassessed. Priority should be accorded to ushering in modern design of electric locomotives which would make the existing electrified routes viable. Railways may also consider setting up captive power houses for providing power for traction purposes at affordable tariff. 18. Railway production units should be privatised. In the first instance, these should be formed into autonomous corporations.

19. Indian Railways have around fifty maintenance workshops with excellent infrastructure of industrial structures, machinery and plant and covered space backed by a team of competent artisans and supervisors. These facilities are not fully utilised. Railways should launch an aggressive marketing campaign for leasing out these assets on dry or wet lease terms. 20. The security on running trains should be privatised. This would resolve the constant bickering between the State Govt and the Railways in apportionment of blame and responsibility.. The present system is based more on legal follow up after a crime has taken place rather than ensuring security of passengers. The effectiveness of professional security agencies could be enhanced by declaring trains as private premises. 21. Resource Mobilisation In our context the investments required for infrastructure development are so massive that it is not within the capability of Railways to finance the needs from its own internal resources. Borrowings at commercial rates would lead railways to early bankruptcy. While all efforts to secure private investments should be made, in the short run there appears no option but for the state to step in and provide budgetary support at reasonable interest rates say 10%. The transport needs are so pressing that the community will have to pay for its development in one form or the other. Government intervention appears logical and brooks no delay. 22. Following matrix for resource mobilisation should be aimed at. Internal Generation 40% Bolt & Own Your Wagon Scheme 12% Bonds & ECB 20% Budgetary Support 28% Total 100% 23. Railways have to think of innovative methods of resource mobilisation. Some suggestions are:

Commercial exploitation of surplus land and sky space above the stations and other Railway buildings. Commercial exploitation of right of way for telecom/cable lines. Borrowings from merchant Banking sector at interest rates lower than IRFC Procuring assets through leasing. Leasing out surplus workshop space to Industry under wet or dry lease terms. Leasing out Railway communication network. Disengagement from non core activities such as Manufacturing, Catering, and Tourism. Management of Stations and Security on trains and stations could also be out sourced.

24. A Responsive Management Set up Implementation of the aforesaid agenda requires a responsive management set up. The present structure comprising proliferation of departments beset with conflict of

objectives and decision making levels far removed from the area of operations is not amenable to quick and customer friendly responses. Major restructuring is called for. A beginning could be made by consolidating the departments. 25. A healthy relationship between the Railway Board and the political leadership needs to be evolved. Areas of policy formulations, executive authority and the rules of business need to be redefined.

Proceedings of Seminar On Meeting Resurgence in Transport Demand Challenges Before the Railways Foreword

We are an informal group of friends, who meet periodically over a cup of tea and discuss various issues relating to the transport sector particularly the Railways. We look at the socio-economic environment and reflect on the way Forward Agenda for the Transport Sector. Evolving recommendations for the continued well being of the Railways is our passion. Lest we are branded as a 'WAR Group' (Wise After Retirement), we interact frequently with the serving officers. In the pages that follow, we have put together the proceedings of a day long brain storming session conducted on the 3rd August 2004. Apart from our Members, the participants comprised a galaxy of bright people both serving and retired. They all have one trait in common, that is to think ahead and look well beyond their nose. In the get together, three presentations were made, followed by lively discussions eliciting interesting suggestions and recommendations. These have been compiled and a summary of recommendations has been appended along with these proceedings. We are also fortunate that some of the guests sent written communications to follow up their speeches during the Seminar. I commend these proceedings to you and hope you find these useful. A.K. BANERJI Secretary - RAILWATCH

List of Participants

GUEST SPEAKERS a

RAILWATCH

Shri S. Dhasarathy
Former Member Mechanical, Rly. Board

Shri M. S. Gujral Shri O.P. Tantia Shri P.S. Kapoor Shri S.S. Kapoor Shri Anand Shukla Shri A. K. Banerji
Secretary

Shri Jitendra Sondhi

World Bank Expert

Shri S.C. Sengupta

Advisor, Kolkata Port Trust & Former GM, E. Rly.

Shri Vinod Kumar

GM, Metro Rail

Shri R.R. Bhandari

GM, S.E. Rly.

Shri Deepak Krishan

Chief Administrative Officer (Constn) E.Rly.

Shri Y.P. Gupta

Addl. GM, S.E. Rly.

Shri D. N. Mathur
CME, E.Rly.

Shri P. Bhattacharya
CME, S.E. Rly

Shri Shakeel Ahmed

Divisional Rly. Manager, Kharagpur

Programme

10.30hrs 10.40hrs

Welcome Address by Shri A.K. Banerji, Secretary, RAILWATCH Presentation by Shri O.P. Tantia on "Enhancing Transport Capacity and Ensuring Rail Safety through Separation of Freight & Passenger Corridors" Review by Shri S. Dhasarathy Discussions & Coffee Service Presentation by Shri Jitendra Sondhi on comparison between Chinese & Indian Railways - Lessons for India Discussions Lunch Presentation by Shri A.K. Banerji, Secretary RAILWATCH on "Management of Freight Operations on IR" Review by Shri M.S. Gujral

11.10 hrs 11.25 hrs 11.45 hrs 12.30 hrs 13.15 hrs 14.30 hrs 15.00 hrs

15.15 hrs 15.30 hrs 16.30 hrs

Discussions & Coffee Service Open House discussion on Railway Charter Conclusion

Address by the Secretary

On behalf of Railwatch, I accord a warm welcome to all of you. It is our proud privilege that Mr. M.S. Gujral, former Chairman, Railway Board and Coal India, would be participating in the deliberations. We recall the exciting days when Mr. Gujral assumed the reins of the Railways in the early 80's and turned the institution around from the brink of disaster. Railwatch is fortunate to have his continuous counsel and guidance from its very inception. We welcome him. Mr. S. Dhasarathy, former Member Mechanical has traveled all the way from Chennai to be with us today to share his experiences and talk of the unfinished agenda that needs to be pursued. We accord him a hearty welcome. We have with us today Mr. Jitendra Sondhi, World Bank Expert, who has recently concluded his study on the Chinese Railways and would, in his presentation, identify the areas where Indian Railways could emulate the strategies adopted by the Chinese Railways. We accord him a special welcome. We welcome Mr. Sunil Sengupta, Advisor, Kolkata Port Trust and look forward to his inputs on the developments in the shipping business. We are specially happy to welcome in our midst an impressive galaxy of distinguished Railway Officers comprising Mr. Vinod Kumar, General Manager Metro, Mr. R.R. Bhandari, General Manager, S.E.Rly. Mr. Y.P. Gupta, Additional General Manager., S.E. Rly, Mr. Deepak Krishan, Chief Administrative Officer (Constn), E.Rly, Mr. D.N. Mathur, CME, E.Rly, Mr. P. Bhattacharya, CME, SER and Mr. Shakeel Ahmed, Divisional Rly. Manager, Kharagpur. This is an impressive team of administrators and thinkers who have the unique capability of looking well beyond their nose. I accord them a hearty welcome and look forward to a free and frank exchange of views with them. Finally, I welcome Mr. O.P. Tantia and our team of Railwatch members who have been constantly providing data and inputs for us to conceptualize our agenda. I take this opportunity to brief you about RAILWATCH and its activities. RAILWATCH is a small group of like minded people registered under the West Bengal Societies Act. We are interested in the continued financial and operational well being of the Transport System particularly the Railways. We study the problems and pitfalls facing the transport infrastructure and attempt to evolve pragmatic solutions. Our methodology consists in study of the significant features of the economic and social environment so that through induction of appropriate technology and marketing strategies, the objective of expanding systems capacity and quality of service is ensured.

In the overall exercise, financial viability and safety in operation continue to be our chief concerns. The objective is to convey these perceptions to those who formulate and implement policies. This think tank has been in existence for some time, but was formally christened RAILWATCH in 1997. We would like to inform you of some of the issues taken up in recent years. These are: 1. A Paper entitled "Railways at the Cross Roads" - covering Traffic Projections and Way Forward Agenda for the Ninth Plan was submitted to the Member Traffic. Paper was subsequently published. A Presentation entitled "Problems of Calcutta Urban Transport. Identification of the projects for meeting the challenges" was made before the then Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal on the 20th November 1998. A Memorandum was also submitted to the then Minister for Railways. Most of the suggestions have been accepted and many of the projects are under implementation. Railwatch presented evidence before the Safety Review Committee on the 20th September 2000. A comprehensive document was submitted thereafter. Many of the recommendations received acceptance from the Committee and were reflected in their final report. Railwatch presented evidence before the Committee for "Fixing Norms for Railway Electrification Projects" on the 11th July 2001. A comprehensive paper entitled "Choice of Traction - Option before the Railways" was submitted. Some of the views were reflected in the final report of the Committee. A Paper on "Strategies for Meeting Transport Demands" was presented before the Hon'ble Minister of Railways on the 13th February 2002 at the Platinum Jubilee Seminar held at Jamalpur. This paper outlines the way forward agenda for the 10th Plan. Submitted petitions to the Government of India, and Government of West Bengal and interacted with the Media on re-organization of the Indian Railways. A presentation on Interaction between Railways and Industry presented on the 4th April 2003 in a get-together organized by the Eastern Railway at Fairlie Place. A paper entitled "Future of Freight Cars on the Indian Railways" was presented by Shri O.P. Tantia in the International Seminar held at Taj Bengal on the 14th and the 15th May, 2003. Currently, the Railwatch is working on the concept of dedicated Freight Corridors to deal with the growth in bulk and non-bulk traffic.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6. 7. 8.

9.

10. Railwatch is interacting with the Transport Division of UN ESCAP Office at Bangkok for development of the Trans-Asian Railway. 11. Railwatch has developed a concept for Management of Freight Operations consequent to fragmentation of Railways. As we gather here today to fine tune our perceptions on the future of the Indian Railways, it occurs to us that the Railways are a much-studied organization. World

Bank, Mackenzie's, Rakesh Mohan, Railway Reforms Committee and a host of high profile consultants have studied the functioning of the Railways and have come out with a plethora of recommendations for improving its performance and financial viability. Similarly, the working of the Railways is monitored and reviewed by a number of Parliamentary Committees, such as the Public Accounts Committee, Convention Committee, Railways Standing Committee, Steering Committee, to name a few. In addition, dozens of Consultative Committees at various levels are breathing down its neck. In this context, how do we define the role of RAILWATCH ? Should we be yet another voice in the wilderness? Not quite. We in the Group feel that despite the aforesaid close scrutiny, some of the core issues that need to be urgently addressed have gone by default. A lip service is paid to the Railways' continual role in supporting the national economy, but the matter ends there. We talk of infrastructure and its importance, yet in reality we confine ourselves to power generation, roadways, shipping, ports, airports, primary health care and education. Railways are either ignored or taken for granted. This is an enigma, and we feel that our Group in a small way can contribute towards correcting this attitude. We on our part in the Rail Transport Sector should stop being inward looking and try to respond to the changing external environment. Railways need infusion of massive investments that can transform not only the Railway system but also the National economy. Projects aimed at expanding system capacity, improving quality of service, ensuring financial viability and addressing the safety concerns, need to be quickly formulated and urgently implemented. Investments needed for such projects are unfortunately difficult to come by and the Railways are asked to raise internal resources for development. Quite often a substantial portion of the meager resources that are finally made available is frittered away in populist projects aimed at dispensing political favors. Railwatch is also acutely aware that the Railways cannot forever depend upon budgetary support either. What then is the way forward? There are no easy answers but this situation needs to be corrected. In this get together today we look for answers to some of these intractable issues. Hopefully some of the solutions are contained in presentations and discussions that follow. In the proceedings for the day we have three presentations. The first presentation by Mr. O. P Tantia, President RAILWATCH, traces the historical growth of Freight Traffic on the Indian Railways and sketches the outline of the future strategy covering amongst others the concept of separate Freight Corridors, Commodity Specific Wagons. Higher axle loads, Liberalized moving Dimensions, strategy for reducing cost of freight transportation and user friendly commercial rules and procedures. The next paper is by Mr. Sondhi a World Bank expert who takes us on a comparative performance review and strategies adopted by Chinese and Indian Railways. The role of Network expansion on creating transport capacity is highlighted.

I present the last paper, which develops a concept authored by Mr. MS Gujral. This talks of a strategy to cope with the adverse effect of fragmentation of the Railways on Freight Operations. With these thoughts, I welcome you once again to this gathering. Thank you for your attention.

Enhancing Transport Capacity and Ensuring Rail Safety through Seperation of Freight & Passenger
Corridors by O. P. Tantia and Ashutosh Kumar Banerji for RAILWATCH Introduction The Indian economy has entered the tenth plan with an expectation of 5% to 7% annual growth in the GDP and consequently 6% to 8% growth in the transport sector. These expectations place heavy demands on the already saturated road and rail transport system which coupled with the inadequacies in the power sector could be a major constraint in the realisation of the projected economic growth. Strategies for capacity generation along with the technological inputs, matching investments and the institutional framework needed by the Railways are issues that need to be addressed. Growth of Freight Traffic The growth of Freight Traffic on the Indian Railways since launching of the 5 Year Plan encompasses two distinct phases. The first phase comprising 30 years from 1950 to 1980 witnessed a programme of rehabilitation of dilapidated assets, ushering in of Diesel and Electric Traction, modernization of signalling system along with replacement of 4 Wheeler Stock by Bogie Stock and progressive induction of Centre Buffer Couplers in replacement of Screw Couplings and Side Buffers. In this phase, the Railways tried to move all kinds of traffic bulk, non-bulk and piecemeal in a wide basket of commodities through a single amorphous infrastructure aided by a network of marshalling yards and on line maintenance depots. While the Railways by and large fulfilled the traffic demands, they could do full justice neither to the piecemeal nor to the bulk traffic. The operating performance was beset with high turn rounds, transit detentions and road side detachments of rolling stock. Mixture of rolling stock equipped with Centre Buffer Couplers, Screw Couplings and transition devices brought untold misery to both the maintenance and the operating personnel. The 2nd phase was characterized by a set of significant policy initiatives. The performance of Bogie Wagons of UIC design equipped with Roller Bearings was beset with frequent instances of Bogie cracks and Roller Bearing failures. In order to rectify this deficiency in 1980, the Indian Railways took a decision to adopt Cast Steel Bogies and Cartridge Bearings, which could meet the rigors of service without such failures. Induction of this design of wagon designated as N Stock, along with replacement of Vacuum Brakes by Air Brakes brought about a sea change in the operating capability of the Indian Railways.

Concurrent with modernization of Freight Cars the concept of end to end running of Freight Trains was introduced in the eighties. Block rakes ran through from loading point to the unloading destination bypassing intermediate yards mostly without change of motive power. Modernization of Freight Cars and the related operating innovations delivered the desired result. In the last two decades of the 20th century a substantial increase from 196 million tonne to 474 million tonne in originating loading and from 148 BTKM to 317 BTKM in transport output was achieved. Present Scenario The 10th Plan has got off to a flying start logging an increment of 25.5 million tonne and 17 BTKM in transport output in the very first year. The performance in the second year of the 10th Plan has been equally impressive. It is expected that the year 2003-04 would witness an increment of 38 million tonne in originating loading and 24 BTKM in transport output. The traffic matrix of the Indian Railways basically comprises the following :

Bulk Transport of heavy haul Freight Traffic Containerised Transport of Non Bulk and piece meal Traffic Inter City and long distance Mail Express Trains Sectional stopping Passenger Trains Commuter Services on the Suburban Sections

Railways efforts over the years to build a unified infrastructure to cater for these divergent operating requirements, despite substantial investments, have failed to deliver both in terms of system capacity as well as the quality of service and safety in operations. We have ended up by setting up an amorphous system, that fulfils the needs of none. Perhaps heavy haul freight services should operate on corridors separate from fast passenger and the premium container services. The infrastructure requirements of the two streams particularly relating to signal spacing, axle load limitations and siding lengths are totally different. The Railways are now at a critical juncture and for them to sustain the growth and continue to be an effective instrument in lending impetus to the national economy, they need to put in place two sets of infrastructure within one system, tailored separately for transport of bulk and non bulk traffic. The mistake of the first 30 years of developing a unified infrastructure for dealing with both segments of traffic, possibly aimed at achieving a more intensive utilisation of assets, should not be repeated. The conflicting matrix of fast passenger services and heavy haul freight trains operating on the same infrastructure also needs to be resolved. The results would be rewarding if lessons were learnt from this experience and investment decisions focussed upon this road map. Critical Issues The way forward Agenda for the Indian Railways aimed at expanding system capacity, improving quality of service, ensuring safety in operation, securing market penetration and achieving financial viability, needs to address, amongst others, the following issues

High tariff of Railway Freight Transport Poor productivity of our Wagons Augmentation of transport capacity through Network Expansion Separation of Corridors for operation of heavy haul Freight and high speed Passenger and Intermodal services Ensuring safety in operations Review of Commercial Procedures and customer interface

Freight Tariff, Wagon Productivity and Moving Dimensions Rail Transport is atleast 4 times more energy efficient than road transport and the Railway land use is 6.5 times more efficient. Yet, it is not reflected in the Rail tariff that for most commodities and for many distant slabs is in excess of the road tariff. A comparative evaluation of freight tariff in India and U.S.A. conducted by Mr. David Burns, a former World Bank Consultant and presented in his paper in a Seminar in Kolkata on the 14th and the 15th May 2003, brings out interesting facts. According to this paper in respect of bulk commodities such as Coal, Iron Ore, Cement, Food Grain, Fertilizers, when corrected for the purchasing power parity, freight charged in India is substantially higher than the tariff charged by the U.S. railroads. This is ascribable to relatively low productivity of our Freight Cars, arising from a rather restrictive maximum moving dimension adopted by the Indian Railways. We have not taken full advantage of our wide gauge of 1676 mm. Other railroad systems with narrower gauges pack in a lot more cubic content and weight of the consignment in their freight wagons. A large wheel diameter of 1000 mm and a coupling height of 1105 mm have also not helped matters. Reducing these to 840 mm and 850 mm respectively would permit substantial increase in cubic content and carrying capacity of wagons. Concurrently, taking advantage of the higher volume of consignments that would be possible to accommodate in the Freight Car, the axle loads could be increased from the prevailing 20 tons to 30 tons. The increase in axle loads along with improved pay load to tare ratio (20 ton plus 100 ton ay load) would substantially bring down the cost of transportation and would fall in line with those prevailing in U.S.A., Brazil, Australia and other heavy haul rail road systems. It may not be possible to effect some of these improvements in the existing net work immediately. An independent network of Freight Corridors with liberalized moving dimensions, and new series of Freight Cars eliminating the existing constraints, would need to be constructed to render this enhanced productivity possible. Increasing System Capacity through Network Expansion For increasing system capacity, network expansion is one of the options yet to be seriously exercised by the Indian Railways. On the road sector, the network has witnessed an increase from 4 lakh km at the time of Independence to around 32 lakh km. now. It continues to grow at a fast pace, both quantitatively as well as qualitatively. This

growth has delivered the expected results and the road sector is now poised for a vastly improved service delivery in the coming years. In sharp contrast, the Railways network has stagnated. Its nobody's case that Road Transport should not develop, but the withholding of the investments in network expansion of the Railways is rather disquieting. A review of the growth of infrastructure and the transport output delivered by the Railways in the last 50 years would indicate that increase of mere 17% in the Network, coupled with modernization of traction systems, rolling stock, signaling and permanent way, has delivered a growth of over 800% in Freight and 600% in Passenger Traffic. With such outstanding performance and cost benefit matrix, the reasons for withholding investments on expansion of Rail network is rather difficult to comprehend. Further quantum jump in system capacity as is required for meeting future challenges in transport demand would need urgent network expansion. Dedicated Freight Corridor The high density network on the Indian Railways connecting the metropolitan cities of Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi is grossly saturated. In fact, nearly 60% of the line capacity is consumed by passenger traffic, which is likely to grow at the rate of 3% per annum according to a conservative estimate. In respect of the freight traffic the task is even more challenging. According to the Planning Commission, the GDP during the 10th Plan is expected to grow at the rate of 5 to 7%. This would require a growth of 6 to 8% in the transport section, basically to be shared by the Roads and Railways. In fact, the first two years of the 10th Plan has already confirmed the realization of these expectations. The existing system cannot bear this pressure without the inevitable repercussions on the ability of the Railways to move freight traffic and safety in operations. The usual expedient of splitting block sections, signaling improvements, third line in patches and other line capacity works are not likely to effectively bridge the capacity shortfall. Now that the system has reached saturation, for meeting the projected traffic demands both in respect of freight and passenger, there seems to be no option, but to expand the network. Given the background of the last 53 years, the expansion of system capacity in future should follow a strategy that would ensure segregation of streams of heavy traffic from high speed passenger services. In other words, we should build separate corridors for the heavy haul freight traffic. These corridors should permit higher axle load of 30 tonne with special purpose vehicles designed for block movement of Cement, Food grains, Coal, Iron Ore, Limestone, Fertilizers and other bulk commodities. This corridor should also be capable of movement of Double Stack Containers and should have appropriate connectivity with the ports, particularly Mundra, Kandla, Pipavav, Goa, Tuticorin, Chennai, Haldia and Kolkata. Once this concept of separating the heavy freight corridor from the high density route is accepted, it would be possible to develop the alignment of the freight corridor connecting points of generation with areas of consumption. The corridor would be initially single line signaled for both directions with bridges and formation designed for future doubling. Construction of such a corridor while taking away the loaded stream of traffic from the existing net work will release section capacity for speeding up movement of Mail Express Trains and would also cater to the requirement of additional passenger carrying trains in the future. The safety concerns of the Railways would also be

concurrently addressed with this approach. The dedicated Freight Corridor would comprise network connecting points of heavy traffic generation with areas of consumption namely Collieries to Power Houses and Iron Ore Mines to Steel Plants. Suitable connectivity with the existing network to facilitate gathering of originating traffic and delivery to consumption points would be provided. A minimum number of exchange yards should be built into the system to enable consolidation and splitting of loads to conform to the train lengths and loop lengths of the new and the existing network. The Corridor would permit a maximum operating speed of 100 kmph and a ruling gradient not steeper than 1 in 100. The traction would be multiple units 15 of modern ac/ac Diesel Electric Locomotives of 4000 to 6000 Horse Powers. The other features of this Corridor would be

Liberalized moving dimensions permitting operation of double stack containers Wagons with Wheel diameter not exceeding 840 mm Coupling height not exceeding 851 mm Modern Cab signaling with communication system between Driver/Guard and Driver/Control Suitable track structure with 68.5 Kg. AAR or 71 Kg. UIC 90 UTS Rails laid on Pre Stressed Concrete Sleepers with Sleeper density of 1660 Sleeper per km. 1500 m loops permitting train lengths of 120 Cars and 14,400 tonne trailing loads The Freight Corridors will bypass urban conglomerates and shall be free of any passenger or commuter services

The operating requirements as well as the facilities needed for heavy haul freight trains and high speed passenger services can at times be contradictory. By taking away the heavy Goods Trains from the existing network, the facilities can be developed which are more suited for passenger services. In fact, this is the key to ensuring safety in operations. The safety has to be built into the system, the requirements of which are specific to the type of traffic viz. Freight or passenger. A common infrastructure system would always be at best a compromise and beset with lack of reliability. Suggested Freight Corridors While identification of the specific corridors could be the subject matter of a detailed survey, the basic matrix of this network could comprise

Connecting Collieries in Eastern and Central India with Power Houses in U.P., Punjab, Gujrat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra Connecting Iron Ore mines with Steel Plants such as Bailadilla-Dallirahjara-Bhilai link and to ports for export Connecting Talcher mines with Power houses in Karnataka Connecting ports of western India with a focal point in North India for movement of double stack container traffic

A preliminary assessment would indicate that a network of around 9,000 km would

effectively tackle the prevailing constraints relating to capacity, productivity and cost of transportation. Concurrently by separating heavy haul freight and high speed passenger traffic, the safety concerns of the Railways would also be comprehensively addressed. The project can be implemented in a time frame of 3 to 5 years with an investment of about Rs.45,000 Crores. The government have committed Rs.54,000 Crores on improvement of highway network and another Rs.60,000 Crores on Gramin Sadak Yojana and Rs.12,000 crores on Sagar Mala for improving the infrastructure of major ports. The investments of new Freight Corridors on the Railways will synergize with the aforesaid investments and will have tremendous impact on the economy particularly in export promotion and reducing cost of Power generation. Concluding Remarks Segregation of heavy haul Freight Traffic and high speed Passenger Traffic, is the only rational and economically viable method of enhancing transport capacity consistent with Railway's current concern for safety. Instead of frittering away the resources on meaningless line capacity works such as patch doubling, third line construction, intermediate block signaling etc., which deliver only marginal increase in capacity, the 17 time has come to invest in a focused manner, so that over a period of time the heavy haul freight traffic is segregated from inter city passenger and commuter services. The investments involved are affordable and can be implemented in a reasonable time frame.

A Comparative Evaluation of Railways in India and China

By Jitendra Sondhi, World Bank Consultant A comparison of the Railway Systems in China and India makes interesting study. In the decade 1992 to 2002 the route Km on the Chinese Railways (CR) has grown from minus 6% to plus 14% in comparison to that of the Indian Railways (IR). The two Railways carried almost the same volume of Passenger Traffic both in 1992 as well as 2002. However, in respect of Freight Traffic, the volume carried by CR is four and a half times that of India. They have achieved these results through more efficient exploitation of track, locomotives and wagons, and by assigning lower priority to passenger services. China has a larger proportion of double line and has adopted automatic signalling more aggressively than India. As a result, CR operates roughly twice the number of trains on electrified double line tracks than the Indian Railways (IR). The important parameters for the two Railway systems are annexed. IR's transport output is 59% from Passenger Services that generated barely 30% of the revenue. CR's output was 34% from passenger, but it generated 41% of the revenue. Unlike India, CR sought full recovery of costs from Passenger Services without any element of cross subsidy. IR's freight tariff is 1.6 US cents per tom km as compared to CR's at 0.96 US cents including construction surcharge of 0.4 cents. This big difference is attributable to the higher labour productivity on CR which is twice that of IR. In overall terms as well the labour cost on CR and IR as a proportion of total expenditure is 25% and 53% respectively. The average cost per employee in CR was US $ 2005 compared to US $2753 on the IR. CR are gearing up to meet more intensive competition for freight and passenger

transport business from highways. More than 25000 km of expressways with minimum 4 lanes and controlled-access features and over 27000 km of 4-lans dual carriageway highways without controlled access features had been built in China by 2002. CR recognizes the growing competition from high ways and other modes and considers that railway reform is essential to effectively deal with the competitive environment. Areas where IR could emulate CR The government should :

Resolve the conflict between IR's role as a commercial organisatin0 and one to serve social obligations. Support IR in making only financially viable investments Fund all social/politically driven investments and resulting operational losses Holding IR management accountable for service and financial performance Offer significant incentives to railway management if it exceeds agreed targets.

IR should :

Recognize that highways and airlines will increase competitive pressure on IR immensely Recognize the substantial scope in improving productivity of assets and labour and reducing unit costs on IR Recognize that railway restructuring is inescapable if IR is to serve the needs of the growing Indian economy. Separate non core activities, reorganize management on business lines focusing on customers Implement an incentive system based on "benchmark competition" between zonal railways.

IR should prepare a long term 15 year business strategy and investment plan to enable it meet the competitive and grow pressures, examples.

Increase utilization of existing assets (automatic signaling heavier trains, modern train control systems, IT) Improving maintenance of infrastructure and rolling stock to achieve much higher standards of safety, reliability and availability Improving quality of service for passenger and freight services (freight-shorter transit time, guaranteed delivery time, wagon tracking etc). Technology upgradation to reduce unit costs. Set up separate freight/passenger tracks on busy corridors.

In order to focus on the challenges faced by IR and generate public opinion for IR to develop capacity, provide superior service and operate more efficiently, it is important

that a pressure group of stakeholders (railway users and well wishers) be active. It could

Canvass with external agencies e.g. Planning Commission, PM's office, etc. for railway improvement through reform Create awareness within IR management and staff of the perils of status quo and benefits of change Carry out a professional annual review of IR's performance and its impact on Indian economy. Such a review would include : Railway's performance in areas such as financial, operations, safety, service levels, ability to service user needs in traffic volume and service quality, estimates of unsatisfied demand for rail transport and cost to the economy for diversion of traffic to less economic modes. Convey its concerns to PM, FM and Railways and seek responsible performance from IR.

The Future IR needs to become a much leaner, client oriented, and profit seeking entity to meet competition. This will require restructuring and strong incentives for improving efficiency. In case the government and IR do not take remedial measures, IR would fail to service the transport responsibilities to the Indian economy, imposing great cost to the growth of the economy.

Comparison of Important Parameters year 2002

Indian Railways GENERAL 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Stations Track Km Double Line Employees million Average Annual salary Equated TUS Billion Operating Ratio GDP in $ Billion 6858 109227 16184 1.51 Rs. 126650 829 96% 515

Chinese Railways

5437 106184 23058 1.758 RMB 16640 2048 94.6% 1200

9.

Per Capital Income $ FREIGHT

502

1500

10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

Originating Loading (mt) Tonne Km (btkm) Lead Km No. of Wagons Market Share % Route Km Population (Million) PASSENGER

493 333 643 216717 30 63140 1000

2043 1551 759 445707 15 71897 1300

17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

Originating Market Share Originating Passengers (Million) Passenger Kms (Billion) Passenger Lead Km Per capita trips per annum Passenger Coaches

15 5093 493 97 5.09 39263

6.6 1056 497 471 0.82 37942

Note : 1 RMB = Rs. 5.60 as on 8.9.04

Management of Freight Operations on the India Railways

By M. S. Gujral, O. P. Tantia & Ashutosh Banerji 1. The Government have recently increased the number of Railways from the prevailing 9 to 16, basically with the expectation that this would bring the Railway administration closer to the people. The Government are of the view that this measure in course of time will improve the quality of service rendered by ensuring presence of senior management in the field. Development of backward areas and removal of regional imbalances are other benefits expected to be realized from this measure. It also seeks to address a sense of perceived deprivation amongst the rail users in a particular State, say Rajasthan due to the management of Northern Railway at New Delhi or Western Railway at Mumbai, not being sensitive to their local needs. There is a feeling that a Railway Headquarters situated at Jaipur will be more customer friendly. Similarly, Railway Headquarters at Bilaspur, Hajipur, Bhubaneswar, Allahabad, Bangalore and Hubli will address the sense of deprivation of rail users of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Karnataka and Eastern U.P. The issue concerning formation of new Railways has been a subject matter of

2.

extensive debates and discussions prior to the Government decision. At this point of time, it is a fait accompli and debating the issue is infructuous, as considering the political fallout, a roll back is no longer possible. Effort should be to build upon the positive aspects and undertake such fine tuning as may be necessary to remove some of the consequential deficiencies that have arisen due to its implementation. 3. In a simplistic model, the various ingredients of Railway management can briefly be classified as under :3.1 Management of Fixed Assets, such as Permanent Way, Bridges, Land, Buildings, Sub-stations, Signaling, Overhead equipment and related Workshops, Maintenance Depots and Work Centres. Management of Motive Power, Coaches, Wagons and EMUs along with the related Workshops, Maintenance Depots and Work Centres Provision of User Amenities and interaction with customers Public Relations Coordination with the State Government on issues relating to security, law and order, land use, power availability and support for infrastructure development Conduct of Freight and Passenger Operation

3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5

3.6 4.

In this context, there is no denying the fact that in respect of management activities referred to in items 3.1 to 3.5 above, the curtailment of jurisdiction does improve the quality of supervision and secures better coordination with the State Government along with more "customer friendly" interface with the rail user. Conduct of operations, however, particularly Freight operations, is an entirely different cup of tea, and is best monitored on a larger canvas. In respect of Freight Operations, an overall picture covering the entire segment of the network from the point of generation of traffic to the destination point, should be in the visual frame of the manager controlling the operations. Earlier this task was performed by the Executive Director, Traffic of the Railway Board, who had to coordinate amongst the operational heads of the 9 Railways, who in turn coordinated with the operating department of the Divisions under their command and control. Resource allocation for various streams of traffic and commodities by way of allotment of Wagon rakes, locomotives and line capacity were centrally determined by the Railway Board based on the inputs provided by the individual Railway. With the proliferation of the Railways from 6 to 9, and then to 16, it is no longer possible for one single agency in the shape of Executive Director Traffic, Railway Board to control this aspect. In fact, the multiplicity of units and the interchange points, have brought in an element of anarchy in the overall operational scenario. There is a tendency to hold on to the resources and use it for internal loading on short leads to maximize the originating loading of a particular Railway at the expense of the larger interest of the national economy. In order to control such indiscipline, which is expanding by the day, it is necessary to put in place a more efficient and well structured method of command and control

5.

6.

7.

for Railway operations. 8. It is suggested, therefore, that while infrastructure maintenance and other aspects mentioned in Items 3.1 to 3.5 continue to remain within the jurisdiction of the Railways, the operations (item 2.6) should be controlled by the six Operational Zones, as under : 1. Northern Operations Zone - Located at Baroda House, New Delhi Jurisdiction: Northern Railway, North Eastern Railway, North Western Railway, Allahabad Division of North Central Railway. Western Operations Zone - Located at Churchgate, Mumbai Jurisdiction: Western Railway, Kota Division of West Central Railway Central Operations Zone - Located at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai Jurisdiction: Central Railway, Jabalpur & Bhopal Divisions of West Central Railway, Agra & Jhansi Divisions of North Central Railway. Southern Operations Zone - Located at Rail Nilayam, Secunderabad Jurisdiction: Southern Railway, South Central Railway, South Western Railway Eastern Operations Zone - Located at Fairlie Place, Kolkata or Patna Jurisdiction: Eastern Railway, East Central Railway, North East Frontier Railway South Eastern Zone - Located at Garden Reach, Kolkata Jurisdiction: South Eastern Railway, East Coast Railway, South East Central Railway.

2. 3.

4.

5.

6.

9.

Each of these Operation Zones will be headed by an Officer in the rank of an Additional Member of the Railway Board, designated as Additional Member Operations. The Operations Zones will have a lean team of officers to assist the Additional Member in the areas of Motive Power, Rolling Stock, Signaling and Permanent Way. The supporting Officers and Staff will be found from the existing strength of the Railways, without creating any additional posts. The space will be found by readjustment in the Railway Headquarters at Baroda House, Churchgate, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Rail Nilayam, Fairlie Place and Garden Reach.

10. The following benefits would arise from setting up of the Operations Zones. 10.1 The chain of command will be clear cut and undistorted by local pressures. 10.2 10.2. Delays attendant to the multiplicity of interchange points in streams of traffic will be drastically reduced. 10.3 Utilization of Motive Power and Rolling Stock will witness substantial improvement. 10.4 There will be a quick response to implementation of instructions from top as well as feedback from the field level. This will be specially important for dealing with national emergencies, such as war, floods, drought, cyclones and other calamities.

10.5 The prevailing anarchy in operations will be eliminated 11. The scheme when implemented would synergize the benefits of improved supervision of infrastructure arising from reduced jurisdiction with the centralized monitoring and control of operations commensurate with the needs of the national economy. As a result on the one hand the maintenance of infrastructure will receive focused attention and on the other operations would be carried out with an all India perspective eliminating distortions from local interference. The scheme is amenable to be implemented without any expenditure as Officers, Staff, Space and Communications infrastructure needed, would be found from the existing resources of the Railways.

Summary of Recommendations

Railways and the National Economy 1. The Indian Railways have lent support to the national economy right through from the advent of independence to the present day. For accelerated economic development of the country and successful implementation of the poverty alleviation programme, a minimum of 8% growth in GDP has to be aimed at. This would require a 9.6% annual growth in the transport sector to be shared basically by the road and rail sectors. With the launching of the National Highway Development Plan, the road sector is poised for a vastly improved standard of service delivery and is well prepared for meeting its share of transport demand. For fulfilling its share, the Railways would need to lift around 1000 mt by the year 2010 against 556 mt at present. This is a challenge far in excess of past achievements.

Mission Areas 2. For meeting the challenges, the Railways need to launch a programme of a magnitude similar to the Road Sector aimed at

Expansion of System Capacity Improving Quality of Service Ensuring Financial Viability Addressing Safety Concerns

Traffic Mix 3. The Railway network carries a variety of traffic:

Heavy Haul Freight Trains Stopping Passenger Trains Long Distance Mail Express Trains Container Traffic

Commuter Traffic

Enhancing System Capacity 4. The Golden Quadrangle on the Indian Railways that connects the major metropolitan cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, is grossly saturated with almost 60% of the section capacity having been appropriated by passenger traffic. The Passenger Traffic is expected to grow at a minimum of 3% per annum creating serious capacity constraints for movement of Freight Traffic. Innovative investments are needed for generation of capacity. The usual expedient of splitting block sections, signalling improvements, doubling, third line in patches and routine traffic facility works will fall far short of requirements. For enhancing system capacity, network expansion is one of the major options which is yet to be exploited by the Railways. Historically, the Railways have been investing in one common infrastructure to deal with all these divergent traffic mix. The operating and infrastructure requirements for these are vastly different and at times contradictory. The investments have been unfocused delivering compromise solutions, and as a result, the Railways have ended up by building an infrastructure that is not optimized for any kind of traffic. The time therefore has come for Railways to progressively segregate heavy haul freight traffic from the rest of the traffic mix., by building a set of Freight Corridors directly connecting points of generation of bulk traffic directly with consumption points.

5.

Safety Concerns 6. There are instances in which Passenger trains have collided with goods trains derailing on adjacent track and infringing the path of the Passenger train. Similarly Goods trains losing control and colliding with a Passenger or Commuter train standing at a station or running ahead have also occurred. Knee jerk reactions to these unfortunate incidents have often resulted in lopsided investments in remedial measures without securing the desired results. Proposed Freight Corridors aimed at separating heavy haul freight traffic from fast and frequent Passenger services, will address the Safety Concerns of the Railways.

Dedicated Freight Corridors 7. The Freight Corridors should be constructed with the capability of carrying 30ton axle load Wagons (currently axle loads are limited to 20.3tonnes) in train formations of over 14,000t (presently train loads are about 4800 tonnes) hauled by multiple units of 4,000 to 6,000 H.P. ac/ac high tractive effort modern freight locomotives at speeds of 100 kmph. The loop lengths should be 1500 meters or longer to permit accommodation and crossing of train lengths of 120 wagons. The track structure should be 68.5 Kg. AAR or 71 Kg. UIC rails laid on prestressed concrete sleepers, 1660 Sleepers per km. with minimum 300 mm of clean ballast cushion. The communication system should be 880 Hz. GSMR. permitting direct communication between Driver and Guard and the Section Control.

8.

9.

10. The signaling should be Cab Signaling with 1500 meters overlap.

11. We have opted for Broad Gauge (5 feet 6 inches between rails against the standard gauge world wide of 4 feet 8.5 inches) yet our moving dimensions are highly restrictive. Similarly, productivity of our wagons in terms of tare to pay load ratio is probably one of the poorest in the world. We carry 450 kg of dead weight for moving every tonne of traffic as against 170 kg in developed countries. The wagons should be redesigned to increase the cubic content and the load carrying capacity to fall in line with the international norms. High Productivity Wagons 12. The Freight Corridors should be constructed to liberalized moving dimensions and the traffic should be moved on high productivity wagons with the following broad specifications

Wheel diameter 840 mm instead of 1000 mm at present Coupling height 851 mm instead of 1105 mm at present. Lowering of wheel diameter and coupling height substantially increases the volume available for the payload. Bogie Mounted Electronic Brake System Conforming to Liberalized Moving Dimensions Pay load 100 t, Tare 20 t, Gross weight 120 t. Operating speed 100 kmph. Bottom Discharge for Coal and Minerals. No tippling for unloading Equipped with end of train telemetry.

13. While identification of Freight Corridors could be a matter of a detailed survey, the basic matrix could comprise

Connecting Collieries in Eastern and Central India with Power Houses in Northern and Western India. Connecting Iron Ore Mines with the Steel Plants. For example Bailladila, Dalli Rajhara-Bhilai Link and connection to Ports for Export. Connecting Talcher Mines with Power Houses in Karnataka Connecting Ports of Western India with the focal point in Northern India for movement of double stack container traffic. Connecting hinterland with the proposed state of the art Dhamra Port in the East Coast. High productivity Freight Corridors for dealing with expansion of Bokaro, Rourkela, Durgapur and Tata Steel Plants. Connecting the iron ore reserves in Bellary Hospet area with the Mangalore or Chennai ports.

Institutional mechanism for the survey should comprise a task force under the aegis of the Planning Commission. Wagon Productivity, Freight Tariff & Liberalized Moving Dimensions 14. It is claimed that the Railways are 4 times more fuel efficient and 6.1/2 times more efficient in land use in relation to the road transport. This statement needs a more detailed scrutiny, as these are not reflected in the Railway freight tariff, which in many instances is more expensive than the road. 15. Our freight tariff for bulk commodities particularly Coal, Iron Ore, Fertiliser and Cement are inordinately high in comparison to many developed countries. Corrected for the Purchasing Power Parity it is several times that of freight tariff in US Railroads. The reason for this is to be traced to the low productivity of our Wagons. 16. Construction of Freight Corridor permitting liberalized moving dimensions and operation of high productivity 30t axle load Rolling Stock would bring down our freight tariff to international standards. Situation will witness further improvement with progressive elimination of cross subsidy between freight and passenger tariff. Competition from Road 17. Despite better safety record and lower cost of transportation, the Shipper consistently opts for road transport, whenever there is a choice. Flexibility in minimum acceptable weights and size of consignments, in originating and destination points and in rates and tariff permitted by Road hauliers, are the principal reasons for the customer opting for the road transport. Reasonable definitiveness about the delivery schedules on the road sector and relatively swift and hassle-free settlement of claims, make the option more attractive. In an opinion poll conducted by A.F. Ferguson from the transport users, a Customer Satisfaction Index of 7 and 3.4 (in a scale of 1 to 10) was obtained for Road and Rail sectors respectively. This needs to be corrected. The higher cost, if any, incurred by the client in moving his consignment by road, is eventually passed on to the price of the end product. 18. Railways should not necessarily position themselves in adversarial mode in relation to the sister modes of transport viz. road sector, inland waterways, pipeline and aviation. In fact, they should work towards finding total transport solution for their customers synergizing their capabilities with those of other modes. 19. Market for bulk commodities which are less than rake loads but more than car loads need to be addressed. This would need suitable facilities in the terminals, evolving a system for consolidation and an appropriate marketing net work. 20. Reasonable definitiveness about delivery schedules can be achieved through time tabling of freight trains. Serious attempts in this field need to be made. Busy Season Syndrome 21. In a misplaced preoccupation with maximizing utilization of assets, the Railways create transport capacity on the basis of yearly averages, rather than on the peak demand of the busy season. As a result, the unsatisfied demand during the peak

season gets picked up by the Road Sector and the Railways share of the national freight traffic continues to decline. This needs to be corrected by generating transport capacity for meeting peak demands. Non Bulk Traffic 22. There is a growing demand for non bulk traffic which between the four metropolitan cities itself, is estimated to be in excess of 150 million ton per annum. Container Corporation is a success story in this field, yet the traffic mopped up is only around 9 million tonne. In order to pick up a larger share of the non-bulk traffic, it would be necessary to have more such organizations located at Ports with private sector ownership/partnership. Connectivity with ports coupled with double stack container operations can bring out a revolution in this area, both in respect of traffic lifted and the standards of service delivered. Commodity Specific Wagons 23. The basket of commodities hauled by railways would need to be increased. The present designs of Wagons are limited to one type each of Open Wagon BOXN, Covered Wagon BCNA and Flat Wagon BRNA, are not enough to access the entire market. For increased market penetration, commodity specific Wagons will need to be placed on line. Wagons for bulk Cement, Food Grains, Fertilizers, Plastic Pellets and Chemicals are to be developed urgently. Closed circuit movement of bulk Cement from Wadi/Shahabad to Mumbai area in special Wagons is a successful model deserving country wide adoption. Design and manufacture of Steel Coil Wagons is another commendable effort in this direction. Terminals 24. Loading and unloading activities constitute an important element of transport costs. Railways can reduce total transportation costs by setting up efficient mechanized terminals in association with the shippers. Bulk of Freight Traffic on Railways is generated through Sidings. The activity to build new and expand existing sidings for attracting dedicated traffic needs special attention. Simultaneously, replacement of archaic rules with customer friendly procedures, attitudes and incentives, need to be put in place. Increasing the use of special type Bottom Discharge wagons will cut unloading time and costs Electrification of Sidings, especially those which have to deal with crane consignments, needs to be reviewed. Energy Concerns 25. Fuel cells and Bio diesels are poised to be the "fuel of the millennium". Bio diesel is distilled from Jatropa Curcas (Ratan Jyot), a plant that grows wild in arid lands. This plant

Thrives on any type of soil Needs minimal inputs or management Has no insect pests & not browsed by cattle or sheep Can survive long periods of drought

Propagation is easy Yield from the third year onwards and continues for 25-30 years

A simple refining process that costs less than a rupee a liter derives bio diesel. This is freely inter-miscible with Diesel oil and can be used without any modifications on our locomotives. India consumes 2% of world's petroleum out of which, Indian Railways consumes a 2%. The Railways' entire requirement can be found by growing this plant on both sides of the track and on the unused land with railways. (The 64 million Hectares of wasteland in this country can produce our entire requirement of Diesel fuel 3 times over). Dedicated bio diesel Petrol Pumps are opening all over in USA and they have planned to run a s many as 1500 diesel locomotives with bio Diesel. 26. Development of bio-diesel to reduce dependence on fossil fuel is an area with exciting possibilities. This needs to be pursued with vigor and urgency with support and sponsorship of the Railways. Pending Projects 27. It is senseless to carry a large shelf of projects that have no hope of getting completed, but continue to bleed the limited resources of the Railways. A professional task force should review these urgently. Uneconomic, populist and so called social benefit projects should either be weeded out or be funded by the concerned sponsoring agency. International Connections 28. Indian Railways should get actively involved in Trans-Asian Railways between South East Asia and Europe and land bridge projects across India, Thailand/Malaysia. This would bring large revenues to Railways along with generation of business and employment in the country. Organizational Issues 29. Number of learned consultants and expert groups have examined this aspect and suggested wide ranging structural reforms. The strength of railways lies in its clear cut chain of command in operational matters. While restructuring these should not be interfered with. Following issues deserve consideration :

Policy making, regulatory functions and business operations need to be clearly demarcated. Present management structure comprising proliferation of departments beset with conflicts of objectives and a decision making level far removed from the area of operations is not amenable to quick and customer friendly response. The existing departments should be consolidated into 3 or 4 departments, which should be functional and not co-terminus with disciplines. Mono disciplinary hierarchy should be replaced by multi disciplinary structure integrated on business lines. Railways should distance itself from non-core activities such as Manufacturing Units, health, sanitation and education. Pending final exit these should be

separated from business operations. RITES, IRCON and CONCOR could be the model for unbundling some of the non-core activities. 30. The Government have recently enhanced the number of Railways from 9 to 16. This measure while improving quality of supervision and maintenance of fixed and moving assets along with coordination with 38 State Government and interaction with media and rail users has rendered the task of coordinating operations extremely difficult. The bulk traffic on the Indian Railways moves across the country in broad flows and does not respect the frontiers of a division or a railway. Parochial decisions on such movement and resource allocations can adversely affect the national interests. In this context, it is recommended that monitoring and conduct of operations is taken out from the purview of the constituent railways and is placed under the control of limited number of operating zones, headed by Directors General in the rank of the Additional Member of the Board. This will enable effective control of operations and optimum utilisation of fixed and moving assets. Comparison with Chinese Railways 31. Indian Railways need to draw a few lessons from the Chinese experience. The GDP in China has grown at a blistering pace in the last two decades of the 20th century averaging over 9% per annum. As a result 400 million people have been lifted out of the poverty line, which stands at 4.6% in 2002 as compared to 26% in India. 32. On the Chinese Railways (CR) network expansion has been one of the strategies for enhancing system capacity. In 1992 the route km. was 6% less than that of the Indian Railways and is now 14% more. The equated traffic units on CR are two and a half times that of IR in the year 2002. This reflects high level of utilization of track, locomotives and wagons and a higher priority to movement of Freight Traffic, which grew by 394 BTKM in the last ten years. This additionality itself is more than the total BTKM moved by Indian Railways (336 BTKM) in 2002. Staff costs in China are only 25% of the ordinary working expenses as compared to 53% in India. The output in terms of traffic units per employee in China is 1385 as compared to 648 in India. The Chinese Railways are planning an investment of US $ 200 billion in the mega plan period from 2004 to 2020, basically aimed at net work expansion, doubling and creation of dedicated Passenger and Freight Corridors. 33. Lessons to be learnt by the Indian Railways would cover (a) Railways must reform and adapt themselves to market economy (b) Should function on the Business Unit concept (c) Massive investments for enhancing transport capacity needs to be made. Commercial borrowings and a controlled FDI should be encouraged. (d) Railways should focus on core business and non-core activities should (e) Cross subsidy from Freight to Passenger should be phased out. (f) Staff costs should be minimized (g) Rail Construction Fund should be set up through Freight Tariff Cess to

accelerate construction of corridors. (h) Technology upgradation should be the plank on which the future strategy for expanding system capacity and quality of service should primarily be based. (i) Decision on project selection and its implementation should be professionally managed. The sluggish approach of the present day has to be given up. (j) The performance of Indian Railways should be reviewed by an external professional agency, including its impact on the national economy. Concluding Remarks 34. In order to meet the burgeoning traffic demands, the Indian Railways need to expand their system capacity and improve quality of service. Network expansion through construction of separate Freight Corridors, seems to be the most appropriate option. This coupled with induction of high productivity Freight Cars, Increase in Axle Loads and building the Freight Corridors to Liberalized Moving Dimensions, would secure the desired results. Modernization of terminals and putting in place customer friendly commercial rules and procedures will accelerate the process. 35. Progressive elimination of cross subsidy from Freight to Passenger, right sizing the staff strength, technological upgradation and pragmatic investment decisions, coupled with project implementation in a compressed time span, are some of the measures that need to be pursued with vigour. Development of Bio Diesel to address the energy concerns could also be accorded priority. In the development process private initiatives and participation are essential. The Chinese experience in this regard, particularly in respect of structural reforms, adapting to market economy and speed of project implementation, is worth emulating. 36. Restructuring and change in overall attitudes need to be brought about, if necessary from outside the Railway management. The Planning Commission, PM's Office, the Media and representatives of the people need to be involved in mustering a lobby for bringing about this change.

Dedicated Freight & Container Corridor Road to Sustained Economic Growth

Background: There are indications that in the coming years, the Indian economy is poised to grow at a blistering pace. It is difficult to assign any numbers, but on a conservative estimate, a sustained 8 per cent growth in GDP is within the realms of possibility. On the flip side, power generation and transport capacity could be the stumbling blocks in realizing the growth potential. For a 8 per cent growth in GDP, the transport sector, mainly comprising road, rail and shipping sectors need to display a 9.6 per cent growth. A quick review of the investment decisions would indicate that while road and ports have

in the recent past made quite a few positive moves, the Railways have been beset with complacency, and their action plan is somewhat blurred.

Objectives: 1. The Indian Railways thus have an unfinished agenda of

Expanding System Capacity Improving Quality of Service Addressing Safety Concerns; and Ensuring Sustained Financial Viability

The matrix of traffic moved by the Railways comprise a divergent assortment of commuter, stopping passenger, long distance mail/express heavy haul freight and container services. These operate on the same network, around 80 per cent thereof on the heavily saturated Golden Quadrilateral, connecting the four metropolitan cities. An elementary study of the rail transport mechanism would reveal that the infrastructual requirements for the various services rendered by the Railways are not quite similar. As a result, investments made in the last five decades have no doubt substantially enhanced the transport capacity of the Railways, but have generated an amorphous infrastructure that is not optimized for any particular service, and is at best a compromise. Dedicated Freight Corridor There is thus, a view point that the services provided by the railways should be split into separate corridors, so that the investments are focused upon developing an infrastructure that is optimized for the particular set of services rendered by that corridor. To begin with, the heavy haul freight corridor should be progressively separated from the existing network, and the latter should, over the years, be developed to specialize in fast passenger services. The Railways has opted for one of the widest gauges in the world; yet, the productivity of the wagons is rather poor. This is ascribable to a rather restrictive moving dimensions coupled with a large wheel diameter. As a result, the cost of bulk transportation of commodities such as coal, iron ore, cement, food grains and fertilizers is much higher than in the US. The new dedicated freight corridor should as such be constructed to liberalized moving dimension, permitting operation of a new generation of high productivity freight cars designed for 30 tonne axle load at speeds of 100 kmph. This would result in quantum jump in productivity of Rolling Stock and bring down substantially the cost of transportation. This dedicated freight corridor should connect the points of generation of traffic with the consumption centers through the shortest route by passing urban conglomerates. Modern signaling and communication systems could be built into the corridor. A preliminary study would indicate that a network of around 9,600 km at a cost of Rs.5 crore per km would fulfill the initial requirements. Dedicated Container Corridor

Similarly, Container traffic in India has grown from 0.7 million TEUs in 1990 to 3.9 million TEUs now. In the next three years, it is expected to reach a level of 7 million TEUs. A relentless growth of 10 per cent per annum is expected in the foreseeable future. Basically, this growth is triggered by judicious investments in the port sector. A twin-pronged strategy of expanding container berthing and handling capacity in the existing ports and commissioning of new ports with modern facilities, particularly in Gujarat, has facilitated this growth. Capability of evacuating containers from the port and distributing these to the hinterland is now the limiting condition in sustainable growth of traffic, rather than the intrinsic handling capacity in the ports. For instance, according to a World Bank study, out of the 4,000 containers required to be evacuated from the JNPT port per day, the Railways are able to take out only 1,000 containers. This is leading to heavy inventories in the port and as s consequence evacuation by the road sector has to be resorted to. This is not a cost-effective option. Appropriate investments as such are needed to create rail transport capacity for evacuation from the ports as well as bringing in containers from the hinterland to the port, with capabilities matching the actual traffic. There seems to be no alternative, but to construct a dedicated freight-cum-container corridor capable of moving double stack containers. This corridor constructed to liberalized moving dimensions with an investment of around Rs.5,500 crores would be able to pay back the investment in a reasonable time. Project Implementation It is gratifying to note that government have decided in principle to construct the freight cum container corridor in a time span of the next 5 to 7 years. It would be essential that the planning and execution of this mega project which has an important bearing on the economic growth, is handled professionally with meticulous care. We suggest that the traffic-cum-engineering survey to identify the routes and terminals, the traffic projections and the specifications for the infrastructure are handled through global invitation for Expression of Interest followed by a formal tender. Apart from the Ministry of Railways, the Planning Commission, the user Ministries and the Ministry of Finance should be actively associated in this process. It may also be worth our while to have global competition for the best model for the concept definition, specification and modalities of funding and implementation. Attractive incentives of atleast Rs.50 million to each of the successful entries may attract the best international talents in this field. The government needs to do whatever is required to ensure that this mega project does not become a part of the routine mechanism of survey and construction followed by the Indian Railways.

Dedicated Freight Corridor on the Indian Railways

The present Railway Board has inherited an unfinished Agenda requiring following issues to be addressed urgently :

Expansion of System Capacity Improving quality of service Ensuring safety in operation; and Reducing cost of freight transportation

The high-density network on the Indian Railways connecting the metropolitan cities of Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi is grossly saturated. In fact, over 50% of the line capacity is consumed by passenger traffic, which is likely to grow at least at the rate of 3% per annum according to a conservative estimate. In respect of the freight traffic the task is even more challenging. According to the Planning Commission, the GDP during the 10th Plan is expected to grow at the rate of 5 to 7%. This would require a growth of 6 to 8% in the transport sector, basically to be shared by the Roads and Railways. In fact, the first two years of the 10th Plan has already confirmed the realization of these expectations. The existing system cannot bear this pressure without the inevitable repercussions on the ability of the Railways to move freight traffic and safety in operations. The usual method of splitting block sections, signaling improvements, third line in patches and other line capacity works are not likely to effectively bridge the capacity shortfall. It seems The Railways have no option, but to go in for major net work expansion to generate the desired level of system capacity. At this juncture, a quick overview on the pattern of growth of freight traffic on the Indian Railways would be relevant. In the first 30 years, we modernized the system through ushering in diesel and electric traction, replacing 4 wheelers by Bogie Wagon stock, replacing Plain Bearings by Roller Bearings, bringing in Centre Buffer Couplers and Transition Couplers to ensure compatibility with Screw Coupling Stock. We accepted all kinds of traffic, both bulk and piece meal. While we by and large managed to meet the traffic demands, we ended up by carrying both bulk and piece meal traffic rather inefficiently. In the next 23 years we totally segregated the high productivity stock and focused our attention on the movement of bulk commodities, and brought in the operating innovation of single point train examination and end to end running. The results were dramatic and the originating loading jumped from 196 mt in 1980 to 474 mt in 2001. Continuing this strategy, we ended the 9th Plan with an originating loading of 492.5 million tonne. The first year of the 10th Plan has got off to a flying start with a growth of 25.5 million tonne. Indications are that the second year would be equally impressive with a growth of around 30 million tonnes. Now that the system has reached saturation, for meeting the projected traffic demands both in respect of freight and passenger, there seems to be no option, but to expand the net work. Given the background of the last 53 years, the expansion of system capacity in future should follow a strategy which should ensure that streams of heavy freight traffic are segregated from high speed passenger services. In other words, we should build an independent corridor for the freight traffic. This corridor should permit higher axle load of 30 tonnes with special purpose vehicles designed for bulk movement of Cement, Food

grains, Coal, Iron Ore, Limestone, Fertilizers and other bulk commodities. This corridor should also be capable of movement of Double Stack Containers and should have appropriate connectivity with the ports, particularly Mundra, Kandla, Pipavav, Goa, Tuticorin, Chennai, Haldia and Kolkata. Once this concept of separating the heavy freight corridor from the high density route is accepted, it would be possible to develop the alignment of the freight corridor correcting the points of generation with areas of consumption. The corridor would be initially single line signalled for both directions with bridges and formation designed for future doubling. Construction of such a corridor while taking away the loaded stream of traffic from the existing net work will release section capacity for speeding up movement of Mail Express Trains and would also cater to the requirement of additional passenger carrying trains in the future. The safety concerns of the Railways would also be concurrently addressed with this approach. The broad parameters of the proposed Freight Corridor is placed in the Annexure. Construction of a dedicated Freight Corridor would bring in other benefits. Our maximum moving dimensions are rather restrictive. We have not taken full advantage of our wide gauge of 1676 mm. Other railroad systems with narrower gauges, pack in a lot more cubic content and weight of the consignment in their freight wagons. A large wheel diameter of 1000 mm and a coupling height of 1105 mm has also not helped matters. A new system with liberalized moving dimensions and a new series of Freight Cars eliminating the existing constraints would be rendered possible in this Freight Corridor. The increase in axle loads along with improved pay load to tare ratio (20 tonne tare plus 100 tonne pay load) would substantially bring down the cost of operation and would fall in line with those prevailing in U.S.A., Brazil, Australia and other heavy haul Railway Systems. It would also enable putting on line wagons with lower wheel diameter and lower coupling height, brining in efficiency in handling of materials. It is well known that the operating requirements as well as the facilities needed for heavy haul freight trains and high speed passenger services can at times be contradictory. By taking away the heavy Goods Trains from the existing net work, the facilities can be developed which are more suited for passenger services. In fact, this is the key to ensuring safety in operations. The safety has to be built into the system, the requirements of which are specific to the type of traffic viz. freight or passenger. A common system would always be at best a compromise and beset with lack of reliability. In order to be able to do justice to the plans for the future Freight Corridors, it is necessary for us to find the following : 1. 2. 3. 4. Current Coal linkages Current Power Plants, their locations and their existing capacities Expansions to current Power Plants already planned and/or under execution. New Power Plants based on Coal in process of implementation/planning. Coal linkages for the same on least distance basis. 5. Broad streams of Coal traffic.

Sub : Proposed Alignment of the Freight Corridor The freight corridor should originate a point South of Pradhankhunta Junction Land is available for Exchange Yard and primary maintenance of the wagon fleet. Road connection exists from Dhanbad. Convenient feed is possible from Coal loading areas of Patherdih and Chandrapura, Durgapur Steel Plant, IISCO, Bokaro Steel Plant and Chanderpura Yard.

Next traffic collection will be from Garhwa Road Yard This will enable gathering traffic from Karanpura Mines Chopan Manikpur

This alignment should be parallel to Bharkakhana Loop (Garhwa Road - Chopan - Rewa Manikpur) but on an entirely new alignment. A new Manikpur Yard will be set up, which will be the hub of the system. Both East West and North South traffic will meet here.

Line from Korea-Rewa should also join here using the existing alignment from Bishrampur to Shahdol and then divert short from New Katni Junction passing through Maihar Satna Area to pick up the Cement, Limestone traffic from that belt and join at the New Manikpur Yard. In future this North/South line can also connect to Gondia - Nainpur and onward to Chanda Fort via Naghbir in the South following the gauge converted route. Here it would link to the G T route. From Manikpur the line should go to Panki avoiding Kanpur Central. A new exchange yard could be provided at Panki itself. From Kanpur it should be linked to Kasgunj parallel to the gauge converted portion and then meet somewhere between Aligarh and Khurja to feed the Harduagunj Power Houses. Follow the alignment close to Ghaziabad to serve Dadri Power station. The corridor should avoid Delhi area. The Badarpur Power Station should continue to be fed by the existing system or through a short spur from the new freight corridor. The second artery from Kasgunj should proceed towards Saharanpur and then on to Punjab. An Exchange Yard should be provided at Alampura for feeding Ropar and Bhatinda Power Houses. Ludhiana will be the north most hub of the new freight corridor. The skill lies in placing appropriate exchange yards for connectivity with the present network.

25th July 2003 Dear Shri Sharma,

Sub : Freight Corridor - Approach Paper The alignment suggested by you is more or less in conformity with what I have in mind, except that I have a few thoughts on the northern segment from Kasigunj to Ludhiana. I do not know what is the present progress in gauge conversion in that region, but that area, if I remember right, is rather heavy on passenger traffic. Taking the route along the gauge converted portion, may defeat the very purpose of an exclusive freight corridor in that area. Be that as it may, I am trying to put the suggested alignment with possible alternatives on an all railway map, and then we can discuss the matter in greater detail when we meet again on the 16th August, 2003. I must, however, thank you for a very valuable input and whatever we decide eventually, your proposal will basically form the foundation. With kind regards, Yours sincerely, ( A.K. BANERJI )

Shri Madan M.L. Sharma, IRTS General Manager (Retd) South Central Railway 2, DDA Flats, R.P.S., Sheikh Sarai, Phase-1 Malviya Nagar, New Delhi 110 017. Fax : 011 2667 2594 E-Mail : sharmamml@vsnl.com

The Freight Corridor should take off from the vicinity of areas of generation of Coal and Minerals traffic and terminate at a convenient location from where the traffic could be distributed to the centers of consumption. The intervening route should

By and large avoid urban conglomerates Wherever possible, take shorter routes Deviate wherever necessary to gather any sources of additional traffic of similar nature namely, Coal, Iron Ore, Limestone, Dolomite and other Minerals Avoid as far as possible crossing of major rivers involving bridging at high costs. Ensure total grade separation from Roads.

The route should be laid out in a manner to permit doubling in future. When we look at the Coal for Power Houses, the current operating plan requires the Power

Houses in Punjab, Delhi and U.P. to be linked to the Collieries from the Karanpura Collieries. The movement takes place on the Goma-Gaya-Mughalsaraii-Ghaziabad route. In addition to the above parameters in the new Freight Corridor feeding Coal to the Northern India Power Houses, the route could be structured to avoid Mughalsarai Yard in addition to the townships of Allahabad, Tundla, Aligarh and Kanpur may be bypassed in a manner that power to Panki Power House is maintained. ( A.K. BANERJI ) 24.7.2003

Dedicated Freight Corridor on the Indian Railways Meeting of the Special Group of RAILWATCH A brain storming session was held on the 15th and 16th instant at the Hotel Bristol, Gurgaon wherein the performance of the Indian Railways, particularly on the Freight Sector was reviewed. Certain significant features of the operating environment as well as the possible future scenarios were identified. 1. The originating loading during the last 5 years has been growing at a simple rate of 5%. The 9th Plan closed with an originating loading of 492.5 million tonnes delivering a transport output of 333 BTKM. 2. The 10th Plan has got off to a flying start, logging an increment of 25.5 million tonnes and 17 billion tonne km in transport output. 3. The challenges ahead are even more daunting, as the Planning Commission has projected a growth of 5% to 7% in the GDP. For sustaining this growth, the Transport Sector has to grow at a rate 20% faster than the GDP. In other words, the Transport Sector has to sustain a growth of 6% to 8%. The burden has to be basically shared between the Rail and the Road Transport Systems. 4. A disquieting trend is visible in the modal mix of traffic between Road and Rail. The rail share has been continually declining from 89% of the 1st Plan period to 38% now. There seems to be no let up. 5. In the recent years exciting things have been happening in the Road Sector Setting up of National Highway Authority in 1995 and Road Development Corporations by some of the states are the key milestones of putting in place institutional mechanism with greater autonomy and faster decision making capability. Levying of cess on Petrol and Diesel to generate the Central Roads Funds has lent financial teeth to the execution of road development projects. 6. A National Highway Development (NDHP) has been launched which envisages amongst others 4/6 laning of over 13,000 km of Golden Quadrilateral Network linking the Metropolitan cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai. This would be followed by linking Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Silchar to Saurashtra. Major parts are also planned to be connected to the Golden Quadrilateral network. While executing these projects, issues relating to Traffic Management, Encroachments, Overloading, road Safety, Corridor Management, Financing and removal of Non

Physical Barriers are receiving attention. 7. Investment of Rs.54,000 crores have been committed for these projects. This along with an appropriate institutional mechanism backed by a strong political support and commitment have lent impetus to the project execution. Induction of Multi Axle Vehicles (MAVs) would considerably enhance the payload carrying capacity of trucks. The road sector in India is now poised to witness a vastly improved service delivery in the coming years. If there are no serious efforts made by the Railways to initiate remedial measures, the modal mix is likely to worsen. 8. This trend is not just a matter of concern for the Railways, but for the entire economy. It is well known that Rail Transport is four times more fuel efficient and six and a half times more efficient in land use. Continued decline in the share of rail traffic will have its inevitable repercussions on the national economy. 9. Concurrently, due to a virtual freeze in technological inputs, the cost of Rail Transport is also losing its competitive edge. When we compare the cost of hauling bulk commodities such as Coal, Iron Ore, Cement, Food Grains, Fertilizers and Petroleum Products between India and USA, it is depressing to note that the difference is not in percentages, but in fractions in favour of USA. In this situation, it is not possible for our products, which are loaded with high cost of transportation, being able to compete in the international market. 10. This state of affairs is ascribable to o An element of cross subsidy between Freight Transport and Passenger Transport o Mindless increase in freight tariff for bridging budget deficit and securing funds for populist projects. o Our design of Rolling Stock having very poor loadability. 11. We need, as such, to direct our focus of attention towards determining an optimum specification for the Track and Rolling Stock System to deliver transport output at a competitive price. 12. A survey of the international profile of heavy haul indicates that increase in the axle load is a possible solution. Most countries, US, Canada and Australia have managed to turn round the financial fortunes of their Railway Systems through the expedient of effecting a quantum jump in their axle loads. 13. Increase of axle loads on the existing net work is bristling with quite a few problems. There is an apprehension that operation of heavy freight trains with long braking distances on the same section where fast Mail and Express trains as well as stopping Passenger Trains operate is not conducive to safety in operations. In addition, this type of operation has a deleterious effect on the section capacity. 14. Our maximum moving dimensions are also rather restrictive. We have not taken full advantage of our wide gauge of 1676 mm . Other railroad systems with narrower gauges, pack in a lot more cubic content and weight of the consignment in their freight wagons. A large wheel diameter of 1000 mm and a coupling height of 1105 mm has also not helped matters. A new system with liberalized moving dimensions and a new series of Freight Cars eliminating the existing constraints could be a solution. 15. Therefore, it is felt that in order to increase transport capacity, improving quality of service and safety in operation along with reducing the cost of transportation, it would be desirable to separate the Freight and Passenger corridors. In the first instance, atleast the loaded stream of traffic should be taken away from the existing net work.

16. As a first phase of this separation, a new freight corridor for movement of loaded stream of traffic providing connectivity with the existing network at the points of generation as well as delivery of traffic should be built. The corridor would be initially single line signalled for both directions with bridges and formations designed for future doubling 17. Construction of such a corridor, by taking away the loaded stream of traffic from the existing network will release section capacity for speeding up movement particularly of Mail/Express trains and cater to requirement of additional/passenger carrying trains. 18. The broad parameters of the proposed freight corridor is placed in the Annexure I.

( A. K. BANERJI ) Enc: Annexure I Dedicated Freight Corridor on the Indian Railways Salient Features

Initially a single line corridor signalled for both directions. The Bridges and formations should provide for future doubling. Suitable connectivity with the existing net work to facilitate gathering of originating traffic and delivery to consumption points Minimum number of exchange yards to enable consolidation and break up of loads to conform to the train lengths and loop lengths on the existing net work Maximum operating speed 100 kmph over level tangent track Ruling gradient not steeper than 1 in 100 Trailing load 14200 tonnes Motive Power - Multiple unit consists of 4000 HP and 6000 HP ac/ac Diesel Locomotives Liberalized Moving Dimensions permitting operation of double stack containers Wheel diameter 840 mm Coupling Height 851 mm Tare Weight 20 tonnes Pay Load 100 tonnes Crossing Stations at intervals of 10 to 15 KM Loop lengths 1500 metre/2700 metre (to be determined) Signalling System - Road side signals at Crossing Stations and virtual cab signals in the block section with 1200 m overlap GSMR 880 hz. Communication system between Driver Guard/ and Driver Control Electronic Braking System to ensure uniform application of brakes on the entire train length Design of wheels, bearings and suspension for 33 tonnes axle load Track structure 68 Kg rails on PSC Sleepers with Sleeper density of 1660 sleepers per km. Balast Cushion 300 mm Rails UTS 90 head hardened

Track Loading Density 12 tonne/metre Compacted formation with stone ballast spread and rolled to form compacted sub grade all through. Avoid all Passenger amenity features to protect system from being forced to permit any passenger operation. Annexure II LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

1. Shri Rajkumar, Retd. Member Engineering, Railway Board 2. Shri M.M.L. Sharma Retd. General Manager,South Central Railway 3. Shri Chandrika Prasad Retd. Addl. Member Signalling, Railway Board 4. Shri O.P. Tantia, Managing Director, Besco & Convenor Railwatch 5. Shri M.S. Tantia, Director, Besco 6. Shri P.S.Kapoor, Advisor, Besco 7. Shri S.S. Kapoor, Advisor, Besco 8. Shri A.K. Banerji, Retd. General Manager, Central Railway, Advisor, Besco, and Member Secretary, Railwatch

22nd July 2003 Dear Shri Raj Kumar, Sub : Freight Corridor - Approach Paper A discussion paper proposing setting up of independent Freight corridors on the Indian Railways net work is attached. I shall be thankful for your comments and suggestions. Please feel free to make such amendments, deletions, additions or recasting, as you deem

fit. Please send your revised draft/amendments as soon as possible. I would like to put together some kind of a draft Approach Paper before we meet in Kolkata on the 16th August, 2003. With regards, Yours sincerely ( A.K. BANERJI ) Shri Raj Kumar Member Engineering, Railway Board & Secretary to the Govt. of India (Retd) 102/57 Silver Oaks DLF CITY, Phase - 1 Gurgaon 122002 Haryana State. E-mail : silveroaks_India@yahoo.com

22nd July 2003 Dear Shri Sharma, Sub : Freight Corridor - Approach Paper A discussion paper proposing setting up of independent Freight corridors on the Indian Railways net work is attached. I shall be thankful for your comments and suggestions. Please feel free to make such amendments, deletions, additions or recasting, as you deem fit. I specially look forward to your inputs with regard to the possible alignment of the initial phase of the Freight Corridor. Please send your revised draft/amendments as soon as possible. I would like to put together some kind of a draft Approach Paper before we meet in Kolkata on the 16th August, 2003. With regards, Yours sincerely, ( A.K. BANERJI ) Shri Madan M.L. Sharma, IRTS General Manager (Retd)

South Central Railway 2, DDA Flats, R.P.S., Sheikh Sarai, Phase-1 Malviya Nagar, New Delhi 110 017. E-Mail : sharmamml@vsnl.com

23rd July 2003 Shri OPT Shri MST Shri PSK

Sub : Freight Corridor - Approach Paper A discussion paper proposing setting up of independent Freight corridors on the Indian Railways net work is attached. I shall be thankful for your comments and suggestions. Please feel free to make such amendments, deletions, additions or recasting, as you deem fit. Please send your revised draft/amendments as soon as possible. I would like to put together some kind of a draft Approach Paper before we meet in Kolkata on the 16th August, 2003. ( A.K. BANERJI )

Shri Madan M.L. Sharma, IRTS General Manager (Retd) South Central Railway 2, DDA Flats, R.P.S., Sheikh Sarai, Phase-1 Malviya Nagar, New Delhi 110 017. Tel : Fax : 011 2667 2594 Shri Chandrika Prasad Prasad Nayantara Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. Plot B71, Sector 51 Noida 201 307 (U.P) Tel : E-mail : prasad@pncs.biz, chandrika_prasad@yahoo.com Shri Raj Kumar Member Engineering, Railway Board & Secretary to the Govt. of India (Retd) 102/57 Silver Oaks DLF CITY, Phase - 1 Gurgaon 122002, Haryana State.

Tel : E-mail : silveroaks_India@yahoo.com Shri Shanti Narain 202 Vasant Enclave Ras Tula Ram Marg New Delhi 110 057. Tel : 011 2615 4967

16th August 2003 Dear Shri Shanti Narain, Sub : Freight Corridor - Approach Paper A discussion paper proposing setting up of independent Freight corridors on the Indian Railways net work is attached. I shall be thankful for your comments and suggestions. Please feel free to make such amendments, deletions, additions or recasting, as you deem fit. I specially look forward to your inputs with regard to the possible alignment of the initial phase of the Freight Corridor. Please send your revised draft/amendments as soon as possible. I would like to put together some kind of a draft Approach Paper. With regards, Yours sincerely, ( A.K. BANERJI ) Shri Shanti Narain 202 Vasant Enclave Ras Tula Ram Marg New Delhi 110 057. 1. Freight Trains have higher axle loads than Passenger Trains. 2. The tare load to pay load ratio is substantially different in Passenger and Freight Trains and hence, suspension designs of Freight Trains due to a large difference in Spring deflections between tare load and pay load put greater vertical forces on the track. 3. Similarly, lateral forces and curves are very high with Goods Wagons and deteriorate sleeper life, increase track maintenance requirements due to gauge widening and gauge spreading, both of which can cause derailment.

4. Railways have to either reduce the stressed state of the track to a level that is acceptable for fast Mail or Express operation or consider separating the two streams.

Dedicated Freight Corridor on the Indian Railways

The present Railway Board has inherited an unfinished Agenda requiring following issues to be addressed urgently :

Expansion of System Capacity Improving quality of service Ensuring safety in operation; and Reducing cost of freight transportation

The high-density network on the Indian Railways connecting the metropolitan cities of Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi is grossly saturated. In fact, over 50% of the line capacity is consumed by passenger traffic, which is likely to grow at least at the rate of 3% per annum according to a conservative estimate. In respect of the freight traffic the task is even more challenging. According to the Planning Commission, the GDP during the 10th Plan is expected to grow at the rate of 5 to 7%. This would require a growth of 6 to 8% in the transport sector, basically to be shared by the Roads and Railways. In fact, the first two years of the 10th Plan has already confirmed the realization of these expectations. The existing system cannot bear this pressure without the inevitable repercussions on the ability of the Railways to move freight traffic and safety in operations. The usual method of splitting block sections, signaling improvements, third line in patches and other line capacity works are not likely to effectively bridge the capacity shortfall. It seems The Railways have no option, but to go in for major net work expansion to generate the desired level of system capacity. At this juncture, a quick overview on the pattern of growth of freight traffic on the Indian Railways would be relevant. In the first 30 years, we modernized the system through ushering in diesel and electric traction, replacing 4 wheelers by Bogie Wagon stock, replacing Plain Bearings by Roller Bearings, bringing in Centre Buffer Couplers and Transition Couplers to ensure compatibility with Screw Coupling Stock. We accepted all kinds of traffic, both bulk and piece meal. While we by and large managed to meet the traffic demands, we ended up by carrying both bulk and piece meal traffic rather inefficiently. In the next 23 years we totally segregated the high productivity stock and focused our attention on the movement of bulk commodities, and brought in the operating innovation of single point train examination and end to end running. The results were dramatic and the originating loading jumped from 196 mt in 1980 to 474 mt in 2001.

Continuing this strategy, we ended the 9th Plan with an originating loading of 492.5 million tonne. The first year of the 10th Plan has got off to a flying start with a growth of 25.5 million tonne. Indications are that the second year would be equally impressive with a growth of around 30 million tonnes. Now that the system has reached saturation, for meeting the projected traffic demands both in respect of freight and passenger, there seems to be no option, but to expand the net work. Given the background of the last 53 years, the expansion of system capacity in future should follow a strategy which should ensure that streams of heavy freight traffic are segregated from high speed passenger services. In other words, we should build an independent corridor for the freight traffic. This corridor should permit higher axle load of 30 tonnes with special purpose vehicles designed for bulk movement of Cement, Food grains, Coal, Iron Ore, Limestone, Fertilizers and other bulk commodities. This corridor should also be capable of movement of Double Stack Containers and should have appropriate connectivity with the ports, particularly Mundra, Kandla, Pipavav, Goa, Tuticorin, Chennai, Haldia and Kolkata. Once this concept of separating the heavy freight corridor from the high density route is accepted, it would be possible to develop the alignment of the freight corridor correcting the points of generation with areas of consumption. The corridor would be initially single line signalled for both directions with bridges and formation designed for future doubling. Construction of such a corridor while taking away the loaded stream of traffic from the existing net work will release section capacity for speeding up movement of Mail Express Trains and would also cater to the requirement of additional passenger carrying trains in the future. The safety concerns of the Railways would also be concurrently addressed with this approach. The broad parameters of the proposed Freight Corridor is placed in the Annexure. Construction of a dedicated Freight Corridor would bring in other benefits. Our maximum moving dimensions are rather restrictive. We have not taken full advantage of our wide gauge of 1676 mm. Other railroad systems with narrower gauges, pack in a lot more cubic content and weight of the consignment in their freight wagons. A large wheel diameter of 1000 mm and a coupling height of 1105 mm has also not helped matters. A new system with liberalized moving dimensions and a new series of Freight Cars eliminating the existing constraints would be rendered possible in this Freight Corridor. The increase in axle loads along with improved pay load to tare ratio (20 tonne tare plus 100 tonne pay load) would substantially bring down the cost of operation and would fall in line with those prevailing in U.S.A., Brazil, Australia and other heavy haul Railway Systems. It would also enable putting on line wagons with lower wheel diameter and lower coupling height, brining in efficiency in handling of materials. It is well known that the operating requirements as well as the facilities needed for heavy haul freight trains and high speed passenger services can at times be contradictory. By taking away the heavy Goods Trains from the existing net work, the facilities can be developed which are more suited for passenger services. In fact, this is the key to ensuring safety in operations. The safety has to be built into the system, the requirements of which are specific to the type of traffic viz. freight or passenger. A common system would always

be at best a compromise and beset with lack of reliability. In order to be able to do justice to the plans for the future Freight Corridors, it is necessary for us to find the following : 1. 2. 3. 4. Current Coal linkages Current Power Plants, their locations and their existing capacities Expansions to current Power Plants already planned and/or under execution. New Power Plants based on Coal in process of implementation/planning. Coal linkages for the same on least distance basis. 5. Broad streams of Coal traffic.

Sub : Proposed Alignment of the Freight Corridor The freight corridor should originate a point South of Pradhankhunta Junction Land is available for Exchange Yard and primary maintenance of the wagon fleet. Road connection exists from Dhanbad. Convenient feed is possible from Coal loading areas of Patherdih and Chandrapura, Durgapur Steel Plant, IISCO, Bokaro Steel Plant and Chanderpura Yard.

Next traffic collection will be from Garhwa Road Yard This will enable gathering traffic from Karanpura Mines Chopan Manikpur

This alignment should be parallel to Bharkakhana Loop (Garhwa Road - Chopan - Rewa Manikpur) but on an entirely new alignment. A new Manikpur Yard will be set up, which will be the hub of the system. Both East West and North South traffic will meet here.

Line from Korea-Rewa should also join here using the existing alignment from Bishrampur to Shahdol and then divert short from New Katni Junction passing through Maihar Satna Area to pick up the Cement, Limestone traffic from that belt and join at the New Manikpur Yard. In future this North/South line can also connect to Gondia - Nainpur and onward to Chanda Fort via Naghbir in the South following the gauge converted route. Here it would link to the G T route. From Manikpur the line should go to Panki avoiding Kanpur Central. A new exchange yard could be provided at Panki itself. From Kanpur it should be linked to Kasgunj parallel to the gauge converted portion and then meet somewhere between Aligarh and Khurja to feed the Harduagunj Power Houses. Follow the alignment close to Ghaziabad to serve Dadri Power station. The corridor should avoid Delhi area. The Badarpur Power Station should continue to be fed by the existing system or through a short spur from the new freight corridor. The second artery from Kasgunj should proceed towards Saharanpur and then on to Punjab. An Exchange Yard should be provided at Alampura for feeding Ropar and Bhatinda Power Houses.

Ludhiana will be the north most hub of the new freight corridor. The skill lies in placing appropriate exchange yards for connectivity with the present network.

25th July 2003 Dear Shri Sharma, Sub : Freight Corridor - Approach Paper The alignment suggested by you is more or less in conformity with what I have in mind, except that I have a few thoughts on the northern segment from Kasigunj to Ludhiana. I do not know what is the present progress in gauge conversion in that region, but that area, if I remember right, is rather heavy on passenger traffic. Taking the route along the gauge converted portion, may defeat the very purpose of an exclusive freight corridor in that area. Be that as it may, I am trying to put the suggested alignment with possible alternatives on an all railway map, and then we can discuss the matter in greater detail when we meet again on the 16th August, 2003. I must, however, thank you for a very valuable input and whatever we decide eventually, your proposal will basically form the foundation. With kind regards, Yours sincerely, ( A.K. BANERJI )

Shri Madan M.L. Sharma, IRTS General Manager (Retd) South Central Railway 2, DDA Flats, R.P.S., Sheikh Sarai, Phase-1 Malviya Nagar, New Delhi 110 017. Fax : 011 2667 2594 E-Mail : sharmamml@vsnl.com

The Freight Corridor should take off from the vicinity of areas of generation of Coal and Minerals traffic and terminate at a convenient location from where the traffic could be

distributed to the centers of consumption. The intervening route should

By and large avoid urban conglomerates Wherever possible, take shorter routes Deviate wherever necessary to gather any sources of additional traffic of similar nature namely, Coal, Iron Ore, Limestone, Dolomite and other Minerals Avoid as far as possible crossing of major rivers involving bridging at high costs. Ensure total grade separation from Roads.

The route should be laid out in a manner to permit doubling in future. When we look at the Coal for Power Houses, the current operating plan requires the Power Houses in Punjab, Delhi and U.P. to be linked to the Collieries from the Karanpura Collieries. The movement takes place on the Goma-Gaya-Mughalsaraii-Ghaziabad route. In addition to the above parameters in the new Freight Corridor feeding Coal to the Northern India Power Houses, the route could be structured to avoid Mughalsarai Yard in addition to the townships of Allahabad, Tundla, Aligarh and Kanpur may be bypassed in a manner that power to Panki Power House is maintained. ( A.K. BANERJI ) 24.7.2003

Dedicated Freight Corridor on the Indian Railways Meeting of the Special Group of RAILWATCH A brain storming session was held on the 15th and 16th instant at the Hotel Bristol, Gurgaon wherein the performance of the Indian Railways, particularly on the Freight Sector was reviewed. Certain significant features of the operating environment as well as the possible future scenarios were identified. 1. The originating loading during the last 5 years has been growing at a simple rate of 5%. The 9th Plan closed with an originating loading of 492.5 million tonnes delivering a transport output of 333 BTKM. 2. The 10th Plan has got off to a flying start, logging an increment of 25.5 million tonnes and 17 billion tonne km in transport output. 3. The challenges ahead are even more daunting, as the Planning Commission has projected a growth of 5% to 7% in the GDP. For sustaining this growth, the Transport Sector has to grow at a rate 20% faster than the GDP. In other words, the Transport Sector has to sustain a growth of 6% to 8%. The burden has to be basically shared between the Rail and the Road Transport Systems. 4. A disquieting trend is visible in the modal mix of traffic between Road and Rail. The rail share has been continually declining from 89% of the 1st Plan period to 38% now. There seems to be no let up. 5. In the recent years exciting things have been happening in the Road Sector Setting

up of National Highway Authority in 1995 and Road Development Corporations by some of the states are the key milestones of putting in place institutional mechanism with greater autonomy and faster decision making capability. Levying of cess on Petrol and Diesel to generate the Central Roads Funds has lent financial teeth to the execution of road development projects. 6. A National Highway Development (NDHP) has been launched which envisages amongst others 4/6 laning of over 13,000 km of Golden Quadrilateral Network linking the Metropolitan cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai. This would be followed by linking Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Silchar to Saurashtra. Major parts are also planned to be connected to the Golden Quadrilateral network. While executing these projects, issues relating to Traffic Management, Encroachments, Overloading, road Safety, Corridor Management, Financing and removal of Non Physical Barriers are receiving attention. 7. Investment of Rs.54,000 crores have been committed for these projects. This along with an appropriate institutional mechanism backed by a strong political support and commitment have lent impetus to the project execution. Induction of Multi Axle Vehicles (MAVs) would considerably enhance the payload carrying capacity of trucks. The road sector in India is now poised to witness a vastly improved service delivery in the coming years. If there are no serious efforts made by the Railways to initiate remedial measures, the modal mix is likely to worsen. 8. This trend is not just a matter of concern for the Railways, but for the entire economy. It is well known that Rail Transport is four times more fuel efficient and six and a half times more efficient in land use. Continued decline in the share of rail traffic will have its inevitable repercussions on the national economy. 9. Concurrently, due to a virtual freeze in technological inputs, the cost of Rail Transport is also losing its competitive edge. When we compare the cost of hauling bulk commodities such as Coal, Iron Ore, Cement, Food Grains, Fertilizers and Petroleum Products between India and USA, it is depressing to note that the difference is not in percentages, but in fractions in favour of USA. In this situation, it is not possible for our products, which are loaded with high cost of transportation, being able to compete in the international market. 10. This state of affairs is ascribable to o An element of cross subsidy between Freight Transport and Passenger Transport o Mindless increase in freight tariff for bridging budget deficit and securing funds for populist projects. o Our design of Rolling Stock having very poor loadability. 11. We need, as such, to direct our focus of attention towards determining an optimum specification for the Track and Rolling Stock System to deliver transport output at a competitive price. 12. A survey of the international profile of heavy haul indicates that increase in the axle load is a possible solution. Most countries, US, Canada and Australia have managed to turn round the financial fortunes of their Railway Systems through the expedient of effecting a quantum jump in their axle loads. 13. Increase of axle loads on the existing net work is bristling with quite a few problems. There is an apprehension that operation of heavy freight trains with long braking distances on the same section where fast Mail and Express trains as well as stopping Passenger Trains operate is not conducive to safety in operations. In addition, this type of operation has a deleterious effect on the section capacity.

14. Our maximum moving dimensions are also rather restrictive. We have not taken full advantage of our wide gauge of 1676 mm . Other railroad systems with narrower gauges, pack in a lot more cubic content and weight of the consignment in their freight wagons. A large wheel diameter of 1000 mm and a coupling height of 1105 mm has also not helped matters. A new system with liberalized moving dimensions and a new series of Freight Cars eliminating the existing constraints could be a solution. 15. Therefore, it is felt that in order to increase transport capacity, improving quality of service and safety in operation along with reducing the cost of transportation, it would be desirable to separate the Freight and Passenger corridors. In the first instance, atleast the loaded stream of traffic should be taken away from the existing net work. 16. As a first phase of this separation, a new freight corridor for movement of loaded stream of traffic providing connectivity with the existing network at the points of generation as well as delivery of traffic should be built. The corridor would be initially single line signalled for both directions with bridges and formations designed for future doubling 17. Construction of such a corridor, by taking away the loaded stream of traffic from the existing network will release section capacity for speeding up movement particularly of Mail/Express trains and cater to requirement of additional/passenger carrying trains. 18. The broad parameters of the proposed freight corridor is placed in the Annexure I.

( A. K. BANERJI ) Enc: Annexure I Dedicated Freight Corridor on the Indian Railways Salient Features

Initially a single line corridor signalled for both directions. The Bridges and formations should provide for future doubling. Suitable connectivity with the existing net work to facilitate gathering of originating traffic and delivery to consumption points Minimum number of exchange yards to enable consolidation and break up of loads to conform to the train lengths and loop lengths on the existing net work Maximum operating speed 100 kmph over level tangent track Ruling gradient not steeper than 1 in 100 Trailing load 14200 tonnes Motive Power - Multiple unit consists of 4000 HP and 6000 HP ac/ac Diesel Locomotives Liberalized Moving Dimensions permitting operation of double stack containers Wheel diameter 840 mm Coupling Height 851 mm Tare Weight 20 tonnes Pay Load 100 tonnes

Crossing Stations at intervals of 10 to 15 KM Loop lengths 1500 metre/2700 metre (to be determined) Signalling System - Road side signals at Crossing Stations and virtual cab signals in the block section with 1200 m overlap GSMR 880 hz. Communication system between Driver Guard/ and Driver Control Electronic Braking System to ensure uniform application of brakes on the entire train length Design of wheels, bearings and suspension for 33 tonnes axle load Track structure 68 Kg rails on PSC Sleepers with Sleeper density of 1660 sleepers per km. Balast Cushion 300 mm Rails UTS 90 head hardened Track Loading Density 12 tonne/metre Compacted formation with stone ballast spread and rolled to form compacted sub grade all through. Avoid all Passenger amenity features to protect system from being forced to permit any passenger operation. Annexure II LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

1. Shri Rajkumar, Retd. Member Engineering, Railway Board 2. Shri M.M.L. Sharma Retd. General Manager,South Central Railway 3. Shri Chandrika Prasad Retd. Addl. Member Signalling, Railway Board 4. Shri O.P. Tantia, Managing Director, Besco & Convenor Railwatch 5. Shri M.S. Tantia, Director, Besco 6. Shri P.S.Kapoor, Advisor, Besco 7. Shri S.S. Kapoor, Advisor, Besco 8. Shri A.K. Banerji, Retd. General Manager, Central Railway, Advisor, Besco, and Member Secretary, Railwatch

22nd July 2003 Dear Shri Raj Kumar, Sub : Freight Corridor - Approach Paper A discussion paper proposing setting up of independent Freight corridors on the Indian Railways net work is attached. I shall be thankful for your comments and suggestions. Please feel free to make such amendments, deletions, additions or recasting, as you deem fit. Please send your revised draft/amendments as soon as possible. I would like to put together some kind of a draft Approach Paper before we meet in Kolkata on the 16th August, 2003. With regards, Yours sincerely ( A.K. BANERJI ) Shri Raj Kumar Member Engineering, Railway Board & Secretary to the Govt. of India (Retd) 102/57 Silver Oaks DLF CITY, Phase - 1 Gurgaon 122002 Haryana State. E-mail : silveroaks_India@yahoo.com

22nd July 2003 Dear Shri Sharma, Sub : Freight Corridor - Approach Paper A discussion paper proposing setting up of independent Freight corridors on the Indian Railways net work is attached. I shall be thankful for your comments and suggestions. Please feel free to make such amendments, deletions, additions or recasting, as you deem fit. I specially look forward to your inputs with regard to the possible alignment of the initial phase of the Freight Corridor.

Please send your revised draft/amendments as soon as possible. I would like to put together some kind of a draft Approach Paper before we meet in Kolkata on the 16th August, 2003. With regards, Yours sincerely, ( A.K. BANERJI ) Shri Madan M.L. Sharma, IRTS General Manager (Retd) South Central Railway 2, DDA Flats, R.P.S., Sheikh Sarai, Phase-1 Malviya Nagar, New Delhi 110 017. E-Mail : sharmamml@vsnl.com

23rd July 2003 Shri OPT Shri MST Shri PSK

Sub : Freight Corridor - Approach Paper A discussion paper proposing setting up of independent Freight corridors on the Indian Railways net work is attached. I shall be thankful for your comments and suggestions. Please feel free to make such amendments, deletions, additions or recasting, as you deem fit. Please send your revised draft/amendments as soon as possible. I would like to put together some kind of a draft Approach Paper before we meet in Kolkata on the 16th August, 2003. ( A.K. BANERJI )

Shri Madan M.L. Sharma, IRTS General Manager (Retd) South Central Railway 2, DDA Flats, R.P.S., Sheikh Sarai, Phase-1 Malviya Nagar, New Delhi 110 017. Tel :

Fax : 011 2667 2594 Shri Chandrika Prasad Prasad Nayantara Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. Plot B71, Sector 51 Noida 201 307 (U.P) Tel : E-mail : prasad@pncs.biz, chandrika_prasad@yahoo.com Shri Raj Kumar Member Engineering, Railway Board & Secretary to the Govt. of India (Retd) 102/57 Silver Oaks DLF CITY, Phase - 1 Gurgaon 122002, Haryana State. Tel : E-mail : silveroaks_India@yahoo.com Shri Shanti Narain 202 Vasant Enclave Ras Tula Ram Marg New Delhi 110 057. Tel : 011 2615 4967

16th August 2003 Dear Shri Shanti Narain, Sub : Freight Corridor - Approach Paper A discussion paper proposing setting up of independent Freight corridors on the Indian Railways net work is attached. I shall be thankful for your comments and suggestions. Please feel free to make such amendments, deletions, additions or recasting, as you deem fit. I specially look forward to your inputs with regard to the possible alignment of the initial phase of the Freight Corridor. Please send your revised draft/amendments as soon as possible. I would like to put together some kind of a draft Approach Paper. With regards, Yours sincerely, ( A.K. BANERJI ) Shri Shanti Narain

202 Vasant Enclave Ras Tula Ram Marg New Delhi 110 057. 1. Freight Trains have higher axle loads than Passenger Trains. 2. The tare load to pay load ratio is substantially different in Passenger and Freight Trains and hence, suspension designs of Freight Trains due to a large difference in Spring deflections between tare load and pay load put greater vertical forces on the track. 3. Similarly, lateral forces and curves are very high with Goods Wagons and deteriorate sleeper life, increase track maintenance requirements due to gauge widening and gauge spreading, both of which can cause derailment. 4. Railways have to either reduce the stressed state of the track to a level that is acceptable for fast Mail or Express operation or consider separating the two streams.

Dedicated Freight cum Container Corridors Design Parameters A Railwatch Presentation at the ASSOCHAM Seminar
by OP Tantia & Ashutosh Banerji for RAILWATCH

National Economy:

From all accounts the Indian Economy is set to grow at a blistering pace. 7% to 8% Growth in the GDP is projecte

Infrastructure:

Fulfillment of the projected targets of economic growth needs a strong infrastructure Critical areas are 1. Power Generation 2. Transport and Logistic service

Transport Sector:

For the Projected Growth in the GDP, the Transport Sector has to deliver 8.4% to 9.6% growth in Freight Traffic. This has to be basically shared by the Road, Rail and the Maritime Sectors.

Role of the Railways: In order to determine the way forward it would be necessary to conduct a quick appraisal

of the past performance of the Indian Railways in respect of Freight Business

Past Performance: The growth of Freight Traffic on the Indian Railways since launching of the First 5 Year Plan could be viewed in the following Phases.

Phase I From 1950 to 1980. Phase II From 1980 to 2000 Phase III the 21st Century

Railways Inherit Chaos:

Advent of Independence found the Indian Railways in a poor shape. 42 motley Railway systems with dilapidated assets. Multiplicity of Rolling Stock designs and plethora of interchange points added to the confusion. Formation of East Pakistan cut off Assam from the rest of India. All this along with the Partition of India and the Kashmir War posed a major challenge to the Railways in independent India.

Five Year Plans:

The Government of India commencing 1950 launched a series of ambitious Five Year Plans, aimed at improving the quality of life of our people. Fortunately the government of the day recognised the definitive role of the Railways in achieving the Plan objectives.

Phase I Budgetary Support:

15 % of plan funds were allocated in the first three plan periods for development of the Railways. Budgetary support from the Government of India provided for as much as 80% of Railways development needs. With this support the Railways launched a massive programme of rehabilitation of the dilapidated assets and a clutch of initiatives for generating additional transport capacity.

Phase I Significant initiatives:

Nationalisation and regrouping of the 42 Railways into six viable zones Construction of the Assam link to restore communication interrupted due to formation of East Pakistan. Setting up of Production Units for indigenous design and manufacture of locomotives and passenger coaches. Modernisation of traction through rapid dieselisation and electrification over high density routes. Induction of all welded, integral, anti telescopic steel bodied state of the art passenger coaches. Induction of high capacity and high pay load to tare ratio BOX wagons. These wagons in conjunction with modernisation of traction were largely instrumental in breaking the transport bottleneck in the coal steel complex of the Eastern India. A policy decision to usher in rolling stock with roller bearings, centre buffer couplers and bogies in replacement of the conventional 4 wheeler, plain bearing and screw coupling stock. Setting up of adequate capacity for the manufacture of freight stock in the public and the private sector.

Phase I Transport Output:

These investments had the desired effect and Post Independence Railways got off to a flying start. Impressive growth was achieved in the First 2 Plans. Perceptible slowing down witnessed between 1968 to 1980 Overall the Traffic Demands were met and a modest growth was achieved despite industrial recession and the labour unrest of the seventies. During this period from 1950 to 1980 Originating loading increased from 73 to 196 million tonnes reflecting a growth of 2.68 times Ntkm increased from 38 to 111 reflecting a growth of 2.92 times. Originating Passengers increased from 1284 to 3613 million reflecting a growth of 2.81 times Passenger km increased from 66 to 209 billion reflecting a growth of 3.14 times.

Phase I Transport Output:

These are represented in the Charts that Follow

Phase I Lessons Learnt :

Railways tried to move both bulk and piece meal traffic through one common infrastructure aided by a network of marshalling yards and on line repair depots Performance was beset with high turn rounds, transit detentions and roadside detachments, bringing misery to both operating and maintenance personnel While the Railways by and large fulfilled the traffic demands, they ended up doing justice neither to the bulk nor to the piece meal traffic.

Phase II 1980 to 2000:

This Phase was characterized by a set of significant policy initiatives High productivity CBC Stock were segregated from the Screw Coupling stock and four wheeler stock. These were formed into block rakes. Procurement and use of transition coupling was banned. All new stock were procured with sturdy Cast Steel Bogies, Cartridge Bearings and Air Brakes. Condemnation of 4 wheeler stock was accelerated.

Phase II Operating Strategy:

Concept of end to end running of Freight trains from loading points to unloading points in block rakes was introduced. These block rakes by passed intermediate yards mostly without change of power. A concept of single point Intensive train examination prior to loading was introduced.

Phase II Initiatives:

These measures had a dramatic effect on wagon turn round and the Transport Output. Closed circuit operations with base depot concept improved the maintenance health of the stock as well. Trailing loads were enhanced from 3600t (45 BOX Wagons ) to 4700t (58 BOXN Wagons)

Phase II :

Modernisation of Freight Cars along with the innovative maintenance and Operating strategy delivered the desired results. In the last two decades of the 20th Century quantum jump from 196 to 474 million tonnes in originating loading was achieved, reflecting a growth of 2.42 times Transport output also picked up from 148 to 317 BTKM reflecting a growth of 2.14 times. This could have been more but for the sudden guillotine on the Budgetary support which declined to 14% in mid nineties.

Dawn of a New Century : Following the gratifying performance of the last 2 years of the 9th Plan (growth of 54 million tonnes) the 10th Plan has got off to a Flying start

The very first year witnessed an increment of 25.5 million tonnes in originating loading and 17 BTKM in Transport Output. The performance in the 2nd year has been equally impressive. An unprecedented increment of 39 million tonnes in originating loading and 28 BTKM in Transport Output was achieved. 21st Century has got off to a flying start Target for the entire 10th Plan has been surpassed in the First three years itself.

10th Plan Period:

Third year has broken all records with a quantum jump of 43 million tonnes and 30 Btkm in transport output.The performance could have been even higher but for poor Wagon availability and other capacity constraints. Target for the entire 10th Plan has been surpassed in the First three years itself . The prophets of doom have been proved wrong. An Overview of the Growth in Traffic Since Commencement of the Five Year Plans in 1950 is displayed in the Chart that follows

Growth of Freight Traffic since Independence:

Dawn of a New Century

21st Century has got off to a flying start Target for the entire 10th Plan has been surpassed in the First three years itself

Growth of Traffic in the 21st Century

Railways Traffic Share Declines

The Railways have done well over the years in meeting Transport demands. Yet their share of Freight Traffic has been continually declining from 89 % in 1950 to 37 % now.

Reasons for decline in Traffic Share

Inability to generate adequate Transport Capacity Low Productivity of our Freight Cars arising from a severely restrictive Moving Dimensions. Problem of Traffic Mix

Capacity Generation

Failure to generate adequate capacity is one of the reasons for the declining traffic share. Some approximate data in respect of Transport Capacity creation by the Railways and the Roadways are plotted in the next slide. Despite simplifying assumptions the trend is disquieting. In the decade that has gone by the Railways created 135 BTKM of Transport Capacity against 368 by the Road Sector. The gap would widen with the completion of the NHDP Projects. The trend is disquieting.

Transport Capacity Creation

Developments in Road Sectors:

Exciting things have recently been happening in the Road sector. National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has been set up. A $10 billion National Highway Development (NHDP) Programme of 4/6 laning has been launched. A National Highway Development (NHDP) Programme of 4/6 laning, linking Kohima to Saurashtra and Kashmir to Kanyakumari along with Port connectivity has been launched. As a result the System Capacity is now expanding at a breakneck speed. Road sector is now poised for a vastly improved quality of service delivery.

National Highway Development Project:

Railways Traffic Share :

Completion of the Golden Quadrilateral, Silchar to Saurashtra, Srinagar to Kanya Kumari and the Port Connectivity projects of the NHDP would substantially enhance Road System Capacity. Multi Axle Volvo trucks have entered the scene. Simultaneously the Road sector is poised for a vastly improved service delivery in the coming years. All these will further deplete Railways Traffic share. Railways need to sit up and take notice.

Crystal Gazing:

First 5 years of the 21st Century have evidenced a growth in Transport Output almost equal to that in the previous 15 years. The Indian economy is set to take off. 8% Annual Growth in the GDP is in the realm of possibility. This would need 9.6% growth in the transport sector. This demand has to be primarily met by the Rail and the Road sectors.

Constraints:

The Golden Quadrilateral of the Indian Railways is grossly saturated Over 50% of the line capacity is appropriated by passenger services without commensurate revenues (28%) Passenger Traffic is expected to grow at 3% per annum. Challenges for Freight Traffic are rendered even more daunting. The existing system cannot bear this pressure without repercussions on safety in operations and standards of service delivery. The usual expedient of splitting block sections, signaling improvements, third line in patches and other line capacity works are unlikely to bridge the capacity shortfall.

The Way Forward: 9.6 % Growth in System Capacity is a big ask and cannot obviously be generated by conventional means. A two pronged strategy has to be launched

Quantum Jump in Productivity of Rolling Stock. Judicious Network Expansion Increasing the Basket of Commodities

Productivity of Freight Stock:

With the modernisation of Traction and Rolling Stock the Productivity of Wagons on the Indian Railways have evidenced impressive growth. The efficiency indicator of Net tonne km per wagon day has soared from 710 in 1950 to 2570 now. Yet it falls short of our potential and the International standards.

Productivity of Wagons on the IR:

Freight Tariff:

Railways are claimed to be a cheaper mode of transport in comparison to the Roadways. Railways are 4 times more energy efficient and 6 times more efficient in land use than Roads. Yet the Tariff structure does not reflect this clear advantage. For a number of commodities and for many distance slabs, rail tariff is in excess of the road tariff. In respect of Coal, Iron Ore, Cement, Food grain, and Fertilizers Freight Tariff in India when corrected for the Purchasing Power Parity is higher than in the USA. Tariff for Coal is 35 paise per NTKM in USA against 50 paise in India which inflates to 250 paise on the PPP basis. US Railroads make money in Coal Transport while we are forever complaining. Overall US Railroads have brought down the Tariff from 3.5 cents to 1.5 Cents per NTKM in the last 25 years.

Maximum Moving Dimensions:

Our Moving Dimensions are severely restrictive and have not taken full advantage of our 1676 mm wide Gauge. Other Railways with narrower gauge of 1435 mm (Standard Gauge) and Meter Gauge (1000 mm) pack in more cubic content and weight of consignment in their wagons than ours. Comparative Moving Dimensions of the Indian Railways and the Association of American Railroads is shown in the next slide.

IR and AAR Moving Dimensions:

Maximum Moving Dimensions:

Our Moving Dimensions are severely restrictive and have not taken full advantage of our 1676 mm wide Gauge. Other Railways with narrower gauge of 1435 mm (Standard Gauge) and Meter Gauge (1000 mm) pack in more cubic content and weight of consignment in their wagons than ours. Comparative Moving Dimensions of the Indian Railways and the Association of American Railroads is shown in the next slide. With the exception of BOY (3.42) and BOXN LW (2.95) our Broad Gauge Pay load to Tare ratio ranging from 2.0 to 2.4 suffers in comparison to 3.5 to 5.0 in many Standard & Metre Gauge systems. This leads to a high cost of bulk Freight Transportation which is as much as 5 to 7 times of that in the US Railroads on the Purchasing Power Parity basis. The Dedicated Freight Corridor as such needs to be constructed to liberalized moving dimensions. This should permit High Productivity (higher Axle Load, improved pay load to Tare ratio) Freight Cars along with double stack and extra high Containers. Railways may appoint a Consultant to review the C plates adopted on the other Railway systems and the clearances available on the IR and recommend an appropriate schedule of moving dimensions. Railwatch recommends adoption of the attached C Plate.

Given our Broad Gauge, it is possible to provide more liberal dimensions. Yet we have restricted the width of stock to 3.5 m to enable High Productivity Freight Cars of the new corridor to operate to a limited extent on the old network. BOBRN 3450 mm width is already a standard stock on the IR.

Enhancing Productivity of Freight Cars:

Wheel diameter of our Freight Stock should be reduced from the prevailing 1000 mm to 840 mm. Coupling height should be reduced from 1105 mm to around 850 mm. Moving Dimensions should be reviewed to permit greater width and height of wagons. Wagons should be designed for higher Axle Loads. Net to Tare should be improved from 2.45 to at least 4.

Basket of Commodities:

Concurrent with the Expansion of System Capacity, the basket of commodities hauled by Railways would need to be increased. The present designs limited basically to one type each of Open, Covered, Flat and Hopper Wagons are not enough to access the entire market. In order to increase the market penetration Commodity specific wagons will need to be designed. Development of Wagons for Bulk Cement, Food grains and Chemicals needs to be assigned priority.

Common Infrastructure:

Railways over the years have invested on a common infrastructure to deal with these divergent range of Services. The operating and the infrastructure requirements of Commuter, Passenger and Freight Services are totally different. An amorphous system has as such been developed that is optimized for none and is out of focus. Lessons are to be learnt from the adverse experience of mixing Bulk and piece meal traffic in the first 30 years.

Concept of Dedicated Freight Corridors:

Government have as such decided that a network of Dedicated Freight Corridors be constructed on the Indian Railways to address the aforesaid deficiencies. This will enable Capacity Creation and reduce cost of transportation by ushering in high productivity Freight Cars and Double stack Containers. Progressive segregation of Freight and Passenger services will also address the Safety concerns and the problem of Traffic Mix.

Container Traffic:

International Container Traffic in India is set to grow at 10% per annum. Out of 4000 Containers received daily in the JNPT Railways are able to evacuate only 1000. Section Capacity on the Ahmedabad Tughlakabad Amritsar route is the bottleneck. A Dedicated Container Corridor from Amritsar to JNPT and connecting the 4 Ports in Gujrat capable of operating double stack containers would effectively deal with this bottleneck.

Addressing Safety Concerns:

With progressive diversion of heavy freight traffic to the new corridor the existing network could be developed for delivering high quality passenger service. This would ensure that future investments in system capacity are clearly focused and not a compromise as at present This inter alia is the key to achieving safety in operation.

Freight Corridors A bold Initiative:

Railwatch congratulates the Central Government and the Ministry of Railways for the bold initiative in launching the Freight Corridor Project. This initiative compares in stature to the vision displayed by the pioneers who ushered in the Railways in India in the 19th Century.

Project Planning and Execution:

This Mega Project however needs to be implemented after meticulous Planning so that the original objectives are not distorted or vitiated. Identification of the Routes, Technical issues, Institutional and Funding Mechanism should be determined by involving the best available talents among International Consultants. Planning Commission, Ministry of Finance and the various stakeholders should be actively involved in the process.

Objectives of the Freight Corridor:

Expand system capacity commensurate with the growth in the National Economy. Usher in high productivity Freight Cars and thereby reduce the cost of bulk transportation by about 40%. Address safety concerns by separating fast passenger and heavy haul Freight services. Ensure focused service specific investments instead of the present amorphous catch all system. Address the vexing problem of traffic mix.

Institutional and Financial Mechanism:

A fully empowered multidisciplinary Freight Corridor Construction Authority devolved with the responsibility of Planning, Funding and Execution of the Project needs to be set up. Appropriate legislation should be enacted for empowerment and smooth functioning. Mechanism that ensures speedy and time bound completion while maintaining highest standards of Quality needs to be put in place. Selection of Consultants, Contractors and Supervisory Authorities should be through Global Invitation of Bids to attract the best international talents. Private participation needs to be encouraged. NGOs to be involved for creating public awareness and assistance in land

acquisition and cooperation with the contractors. Terms of Reference for the Consultant: May give recommendations on

Maximum Moving Dimensions. Route Alignment Axle Load Grade Separation Technical Specifications of the Infrastructure. Institutional Framework. Pragmatic Deliverables.

Route Alignment: An illustrative list of Traffic streams constituting the Freight cum Container Corridor could be as under:

Coal from Pit head to Power Houses Iron ore Mines to Steel Plants Cement Plants to Cement dumps Steel Plants to Steel Stock yards Iron Ore export circuits. Providing a fast track Coal supply route to Karnataka and the Southern Peninsula. Container hub in North India to the ports in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Consultant may base his recommendations on the Traffic Projections assessed and Traffic Streams identified by him. In route selection the views of the Ministry of Shipping for the Container Corridor and other user Ministries and stakeholders must be considered.

Exchange Yards:

The Dedicated Freight cum Container Corridor would mainly be a stand alone system connecting areas of traffic generation with consumption sectors. Appropriate connections between the existing and the new network may, however be needed at a few locations particularly in the vicinity of the terminals. A limited number of exchange yards may be provided for such inter connectivity and for splitting and consolidation of loads.

Axle Load:

This is a crucial parameter which has to be determined pragmatically. Once the maximum moving dimensions and the wheel diameter of the wagon are determined the outline of a freight car takes shape. Based on the cubic capacity of the wagon and density of the commodity the

maximum gross load of the wagon and the consequent axle load determines itself. The Consultant may follow this methodology rather than stipulating any ad hoc value. Based on the studies conducted by the RAILWATCH the revised moving dimensions would permit a Freight Car of 97 tonne Pay Load, 23 tonne Tare and 120 tonne Gross load. Railwatch would as such recommend adoption of an Axle Load of 30 tonnes with Bridges designed for 40 tonnes.

Track and Bridges:

This would determine itself once the Axle Load is decided. The RAILWATCH recommends a Track Structure comprising 68.5 kg AAR or 72 kg UIC - 90 UTS Rails laid on Concrete sleepers with a density of 1660 per km A Ballast cushion of 350 mm is recommended. A ruling gradient of 1 in 150 should be catered for. Bridges should be constructed for 40 tonne Axle load.

Traction System:

Traction System for the Freight Corridor should permit operation of wide bodied High Axle load High Productivity Freight Cars and Double Stack extra high and long Containers. The most cost effective option should be recommended by the consultant. Systems of front end Traction, banking and Locotrol system should be examined. Railwatch recommends commencement of services with 4000 hp/ 6000 hp ac/ac Diesel Electric Locomotives working in Multiple Units. Provision could be made for high contact wire electrification in future.

Operating Parameters: RAILWATCH recommends Train Consist Cars Locomotives Trailing Load tonnes Operating Speeds Loop Length Crossing/Precedence Stations System of Working: 120 to 130 Freight +1BV + 4 14,000 to 16000 100 km/h 1800 m 25 to 30 km aparto

RAILWATCH recommends

Remote Control Train Management System Electronic Interlocking at Stations GSMR 880 MHz Communication system between Driver Guard and Control. Cab Signaling instead of Roadside Signals

Consultant may study and recommend. Grade Separation:

Despite best efforts Rail Networks do criss cross human habitations. This tends to interfere in community life and obstructs movement of Road Vehicles both Passenger and Freight. In cities the Rail borne Commuter traffic totally paralyses the road traffic in peak periods leading to Urban Chaos.

Conventionally the separation of Road and Rail traffic is secured through.

Level Crossings. Flyovers.

Level Crossings:

These can be unmanned, manned or Automatic. Unmanned are a safety hazard. There is pressure for manning such crossings running in thousands, entailing huge recurring expenditure. Manned Crossings apart from recurring expenditure on staff, require Signaling and Engineering infrastructure. Has a crippling effect on the Operating speeds and efficiency.

Flyovers:

Road is made to Fly over the Rail tracks, enabling simultaneous flow of Road and Rail Traffic. Difficult to find vacant land for approaches. Costly and can only be provided on a selective basis. For instance total grade separation thru Flyovers on Delhi Mumbai Route may cost around Rs 6000 Crores. Resented by non motorised traffic, such as pedestrians, cyclists, rickshaws, hand carts and animal driven vehicles.

Grade Separation:

To avoid Level Crossings and Flyovers, alternative system of Grade separation for the Freight Corridor should be considered. The alignment should avoid urban conglomerates and wherever not feasible the

corridor could be constructed on stilts, columns and embankments. This should be on the pattern of the elevated Corridors of the NHAI in the vicinity of Kanpur City. The consultants may conduct a techno economic feasibility study on this alternative.

Disaster Management:

An independent Accident Relief and Restoration system would need to be set up. The Corridor should have its own network of captive service roads for routine maintenance as well as for rushing men and materials during emergencies.

Deliverables of the Project:

Complete the Project in 5 to 7 years in Phases. Fulfill Transport demands placed on the Railways by the needs of the economy. Create Transport Capacity of 40 to 45 Btkm per annum. Reduce cost of transportation of Bulk Commodities by 40% and bring it below the US Railroads on the Purchasing Power Parity. Reverse the declining trend of Railways share in the National Transport Output. Realise the dream of making IR a World class Railway system.

Network Length and Costs:

Consultant may indicate Costs and ROR. Railwatch estimates a Network of around 9000 km including the Container Corridor to the Ports in Western India. A ball park figure of Rs 65,000 Crores is estimated Time Frame 5 to 7 years. ROR 20%

Summing Up: Strategy for increasing System Capacity, reducing cost of Freight Transportation and addressing the Safety concerns of the Railways has to be primarily based upon

Progressive segregation of Freight and Passenger services thru construction of Dedicated Freight cum Container Corridors. Ushering in High Productivity Rolling stock with net to tare ratio of at least 4. Putting on line Commodity Specific Wagons to improve market penetration.

Enhancing Wagon Productivity:

For improving productivity wheel diameter of our Freight Stock should be reduced from the prevailing 1000 mm to 840 mm

Coupling height should be reduced from 1105 mm to around 850 mm. Moving Dimensions should be reviewed to permit greater width and height of wagons. Full advantage should be taken of our Broad Gauge. Wagons should be designed for an Axle load of 30 t (Tare 23 t Pay load 97t). Net to Tare should be improved from 2.45 to 4.2

High productivity Freight Cars: Unfortunately such High Productivity Stock needing Liberalised Moving Dimensions and 30t Axle Load may not be permitted to operate on the existing Network Network Expansion: Road network has expanded from 4 to 32 lakh km since independence. On the Railways a mere increase of 17% in the network in the same period has delivered a growth of 800% in Freight and 600% in Passenger Traffic. In the backdrop of such outstanding performance there seems no reason to withhold investments in expanding Rail Network. Business Matrix of Railways: Indian Railways broadly provide the following services

Long distance Mail Express Services Stopping Passenger Trains Commuter Services in Urban Conglomerates Heavy Haul Freight Services Inter Modal or Container Services.

Dedicated Freight Corridors:

Railwatch therefore recommends that a network of Dedicated Freight Corridors be constructed on the Indian Railways. This network should connect points of heavy traffic generation with areas of consumption through the shortest possible alignment. Collieries to Power Houses, Iron Ore Mines to Steel Plants,Cement and Steel to stockyards, Foodgrains from Mandis to Usage points and Container hubs to Ports should be taken up on priority. Alignment should avoid urban conglomerates as far as possible

Freight Corridor Specifications:

The Track structure should comprise 68.5 kg AAR or 72kg UIC - 90 UTS Rails laid on Concrete sleepers with a density of 1660 per km A Ballast cushion of 350 mm should be provided, 1800 m or longer loops to accommodate at least 120 Wagons and 4 Locomotives. Modern Cab Signaling with GSMR 880 Hz communication system between driver,

guard and Section Control. A minimum number of exchange yards for connectivity with the existing network and consolidation/splitting of loads. Operating speed 100 km/h Axle load 30 tonne Trailing loads of 14400t and above. Liberal moving dimensions to permit operation of double stack containers and high productivity wagons. 120 t Wagons with 23t Tare and 97 t Pay load. Wheel diameter 840mm Coupling height 850 mm Wagon Width 3.5m, Height 3.5 m, Length 9.6m Train Consist 120 to130 Wagons, 1BV and 4 Locomotives Modern ac/ac Diesel Electric Locomotives of 6000 hp operating in Multiple units..

Container Corridor:

International Container Traffic in India has grown from 7 Lakh TEUs in 1990 to 39 Lakh TEUs now and expected to reach 70 lakh TEUs in the next three years. It is set to grow at 10% per annum. Out of 4000 Containers received daily in the JNPT Railways are able to evacuate only 1000. Section Capacity on the Ahmedabad Tughlakabad Amritsar route is the bottleneck. A Dedicated Container Corridor from Amritsar to JNPT and connecting the 4 Ports in Gujrat capable of operating double stack containers is expected to cost Rs 5500 crores. The specifications of this Corridor would be the same as that of The Freight Corridor

Network Length and Costs:

A Network of around 9000 km including the Dedicated Container Corridor Linking Container hub in North India to the Ports in Western India would be needed It could be a mix of new construction and up gradation of existing tracks. A ball park figure of Rs 65,000 Crores is estimated Time Frame 5 to 7 years.

Grade Separation:

The problems and deficiencies of the existing system of Level Crossings and Road Flyovers could be addressed by constructing the Dedicated Freight Corridor on stilts ,columns and embankments. This would ensure total Grade separation and eliminate the need for a plethora of Level Crossings and Road Flyovers. A techno economic feasibility study to examine this alternative needs to be conducted urgently. Despite best efforts Rail Networks do criss cross human habitations. This tends to interfere in community life and obstructs movement of Road Vehicles both Passenger and Freight. In cities the Rail borne Commuter traffic totally paralyse the road traffic in peak periods leading to Urban Chaos.

Conventionally the separation of Road and Rail traffic is secured through.

Level Crossings.

Flyovers.

Level Crossings:

These can be unmanned, manned or Automatic. Unmanned are a safety hazard. There is pressure for manning all the 40,000(?) such crossings, entailing huge recurring expenditure. Manned Crossings apart from recurring expenditure on staff require Signaling and Engineering infrastructure. Has a crippling effect on the Operating speeds and efficiency. Difficult to Interlock midsection Level Crossings. These continue to be susceptible to human failures, interference by aggressive road users and vandalism. Overall a compromise and an unsatisfactory solution for a vast network such as the Indian Railways. Railways are yet to design a vandal proof Automatic Lifting Barrier Level Crossing.

Flyovers:

Road is made to Fly over the Rail tracks. Permits simultaneous flow of Road and Rail Traffic. Often difficult to find vacant land for approach Roads. Costly and can only be provided on a selective basis. For instance total grade separation at 400(?) locations on Delhi Mumbai Route would cost Rs 8000 Crores. Resented by non motorised traffic, such as pedestrians, cyclists, rickshaws, hand carts and animal driven vehicles.

Project Planning and Execution:

This Mega Project has an important bearing on the National Economy. This needs, as such, to be Planned and Executed with meticulous care. Identification of the Routes, Specifications of the Infrastructure, System of Grade Separation, Funding Mechanism and the Institutional set up (SPV) should be determined by involving the best available talents among International Consultants. This process should be under the aegis of the Planning Commission with active involvement of the Ministry of Finance and the various stakeholders.

Fulfilling Safety Concerns:

With progressive diversion of heavy freight traffic to the new corridor the existing network could be developed for delivering high quality passenger service. This would ensure that future investments in system capacity are clearly focused and not a compromise as at present

This inter alia is the key to achieving safety in operation.

Business Matrix of Railways: Indian Railways broadly provide the following services

Long distance Mail Express Services Stopping Passenger Trains Commuter Services in Metros Heavy Haul Freight Services Inter Modal or Container Services.

Common Infrastructure:

Railways over the years have invested on a common infrastructure to deal with these divergent range of Services. The operating and the infrastructure requirements of Commuter, Passenger and Freight Services are totally different. An amorphous system has as such been developed that is optimized for none and is out of focus.

Concluding Remarks: Today Railways are at the Crossroads. Economy is looking up and the winds of change are blowing. We in the Railwatch hope that legitimate investments in creating permanent assets aimed at expanding System Capacity, ushering in high productivity Rolling Stock, addressing safety concerns and building a world class Railway are not held back. We also hope that this Mega Project is planned and executed with meticulous care so that the objectives of

enhancing transport capacity, reducing cost of transportation Addressing Safety concerns and Making IR a World Class system are fulfilled.

We commend these thoughts for your consideration.

Management of Freight Operations on the Indian Railways

An MS Gujral Concept

by

OP Tantia & Ashutosh Banerji for RAILWATCH

India Wins Freedom Advent of Independence in 1947 found the Indian Railways in a poor shape.There were 42 Railway systems of motley variety. Some of which were,

Government owned and managed. Princely States owned and managed. Princely States owned Government managed. Princely State Owned private Company managed Assisted Company owned and managed. Guaranteed Company owned and managed.

System was characterized by over aged stock and dilapidated infrastructure. Reorganization of Railways Railways In 1952 this motley group was nationalized and integrated into a unified Indian Government Railways and reorganized into 6 Railway Zones as under

Northern Railway at Baroda House New Delhi Southern Railway at Park Town Madras Central Railway at Victoria Terminus Bombay Western Railway at Churchgate Bombay Eastern Railway at Fairlie Place Calcutta North Eastern Railway at Gorakhpur

Further Reorganization Subsequently in1956 and 1966 three more zones were added

North East Frontier Railway at Gauhati was carved out from North Eastern Railway . South Eastern Railway was separated from Eastern Railway and its headquarters located at Garden Reach Calcutta. South Central Railway carved out of Southern and Central Railways with headquarters at Rail Nilayam Secunderabad. Thus Indian Railways with 9 zones came into being. This was reflected as 9 stars in its insignia.

Spring of 2003

The Government decided to increase the number of Railway Zones from prevailing 9 to 16.

This was implemented with effect from 1st April 2003

Raison de etre of the Decision

Prior to the decision the pros and cons of the proposal had been extensively debated in the Government files as well as in the media There was a view point that in this age of mergers and acquisition it makes poor economic sense to fragment the Railway System. The measure was unlikely to strengthen the Railways operating capability and would merely add to overheads and result in avoidable capital expenditure in setting up Railway Headquarters.

Benefits Perceived by the Government

Bring Railway administration closer to the people Ensure presence of senior management in the field Improve quality of service Enhance Passenger Amenities in Mofussil areas Development of backward areas and correcting regional imbalances. Inculcate a sense of ownership in the States with respect to the Railways. Removing a sense of deprivation from rail users located far away from existing Railway headquarters.

An Objective Evaluation For an objective evaluation of the measure, impact of the fragmentation on various ingredients of Railway management needs to be examined Elements of Railway Management In a simplistic model, the ingredients of Railway Management could be classified as

Management of Fixed Assets Management of Moving Assets Provision of User Amenities Public and Media Relations Coordination with State Governments Conduct of Freight and Passenger Operations

Analysis of the Impact

Fragmentation has reduced the jurisdiction of the General Manager and his team of the Principal Heads of the Departments. As a result quality of supervision over maintenance of Fixed and Moving Assets is

expected to improve. With the new Zones spanning fewer States coordination with State Governments would be more effective. Top Railway management would be more accessible to Rail Users thus creating a customer friendly image.

Mechanics of Conducting Freight Operations

Conduct of Operations is a different cup of tea. These are best monitored on a large canvas The visual frame should cover both the points of origin as well as destination of traffic. Resource allocation and movement priorities need to be centrally determined with a national perspective. Fulfillment of these objectives need close coordination with Operational Teams of the constituent Railway systems. This task is executed by the Traffic Directorate of the Board.

Impact of Fragmentation

With the proliferation of the Railways it is no longer possible for the Board to coordinate in any meaningful manner with all the 16 constituent Railway systems. Multiplicity of units and interchange points have brought in an element of anarchy in the operations scenario. Movement has slowed down Tendency to hold on to resources to shore up local performance at the cost of the National economy is raising its ugly head. These factors have already had an impact in substantial loss of traffic in the first year itself.

A need to Pause and Reflect

There is a reasonable buoyancy in traffic offerings in the first two years of the 10th Plan. This is likely to sustain. In this environment the recent manifestation of indiscipline and anarchy that is increasing by the day in conduct of operations is totally unacceptable. An institutional mechanism needs to be put in place that too rather urgently to correct this distortion.

Reversal now is no Option

The increase in Railways from 9 to 16 has happened and is a fait accompli. This measure cannot be rolled back as the political consequences would be too adverse for any party to accept regardless of its ideology. No point tilting against the windmill.

The Way Forward

Management and maintenance of infrastructure would continue under the jurisdiction of the newly structured Railways. Coordination with State Governments, interaction with Rail Users, Media and Industrial Relations and the like would also remain within the control of the General Managers. Better control and supervision on the above aspects are expected from reduced jurisdiction consequent to restructuring. Conduct of Operations would however be taken out of the purview of constituent Railways and would be executed and monitored through an independent institutional mechanism

Formation of Operation Zones We suggest that conduct of operations is controlled and monitored through 6 Operation Zones as under

North Zone comprising Northern Railway, North Eastern Railway, North Western Railway, Allahabad Division of the North Central Railway ,. Located at Baroda House New Delhi West Zone comprising Western Railway and Kota Division of West Central Railway. Located at Church Gate Mumbai

Operations Zones

Central Zone comprising Central Railway,Jabalpur and Bhopal Divisions of the West Central Railway and Agra and Jhansi divisions of North Central Railway. Located at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai. South Zone comprising Southern Railway, South Central Railway, South Western Railway . Located at Rail Nilayam Secunderabad. East Zone comprising Eastern Railway,East Central Railway and ,North East Frontier Railway. Located at Fairlie Place Kolkata or a suitable location in Patna. South East Zone comprising South Eastern Railway, South East Central Railway and East Coast Railway. Located at Garden Reach Kolkata.

System of Working

Each Operations Zone will be headed by an officer of the rank of an Additional Member of the Board He will be assisted by a lean team of officers in the areas of Motive Power, Rolling Stock, Signaling and Permanent Way. The Railway Board will deal only with the six Operation Zones in conduct and Monitoring of Operations. The Additional Member assisted by his core group will coordinate with the Railways and Divisions in his jurisdiction. Movement priority and resource allocation will be determined by this matrix of

Railway Board and the Operation Zones Infrastructure

The posts of Additional Members / Directors General will be created by matching surrender of gazetted posts. The supporting officers and and staff will be found from the existing strength of the Railways. Office space and Communications infrastructure will be made available from existing resources.

Benefits from the Concept

Chain of Command will be unambiguous Operating decisions will be freed from local distortions Delays attendant to multiplicity of interchange points will be drastically reduced. Utilization of Motive Power and Rolling Stock will witness quantum jump. Response to commands from top and national emergencies would be swift. Prevailing indiscipline and anarchy would disappear.

Best of both Worlds

The concept ensures vastly improved supervision over fixed and moving assets arising from reduced jurisdiction of constituent Railways It permits seamless operations across the Network without being impeded by the frontiers of constituent Railways or Divisions. Artificial barriers of interchange points disappear The implementation of the Concept places no financial burden by way of initial capital or recurring costs.

Concluding Remarks

The concept does not interfere with the Political objective of local empowerment and removing the sense of deprivation amongst Rail Users in Mofussil and backward areas It however effectively corrects the distortions in management of operations arising from multiplicity of Railways and proliferation of interchange points

Enhancing Transport Capacity and Ensuring Safety on the Indian Railways Through Separation of Freight and Passenger Corridors.
by OP Tantia & Ashutosh Banerji for RAILWATCH

State of the National Economy

Indian Economy Enters the Third year of the 10th Plan with high expectations A GDP growth of 10.5% achieved in the last quarter of 2nd Year of the Plan An overall growth of 7.5% projected for the entire Plan period. The mood is upbeat.

Role of the Railways

Fulfillment of the projected targets of economic growth needs a strong infrastructure. Critical areas are 1. Power Generation and 2. Transport and logistic services

Indian Railways and the National Economy The Indian Railways have lent support to the National Economy right through from the advent of Independence to the present day. Despite plummeting budgetary support traffic demands were fulfilled through:

modernization of the system induction of appropriate technology improved utilisation of assets and Innovations in Maintenance and Operations

Growth of Freight Traffic on the Indian Railways The growth of Freight Traffic since launching of the First 5 year Plan in 1950 encompasses two distinct Phases

Phase I from 1950 to 1980 Phase II from 1980 to present

Phase I from 1950 to 1980 This phase was characterized by

Rehabilitation of the war torn and dilapidated assets Restoring Rail links broken due to the partition of the country. Reorganization of 42 private and State owned Railway systems into 6 viable zones. Modernization of Traction, Rolling Stock and Signaling systems Setting up modern Production units for manufacture of Locomotives and Coaches.

Benefits Perceived by the Government

Bring Railway administration closer to the people Ensure presence of senior management in the field Improve quality of service Enhance Passenger Amenities in Mofussil areas Development of backward areas and correcting regional imbalances. Inculcate a sense of ownership in the States with respect to the Railways. Removing a sense of deprivation from rail users located far away from existing Railway headquarters. Post independence Railways got off to a flying start. Traffic lifted almost doubled in the first 5 year plan. Perceptible slowing down witnessed between 1968 to 1980 In these 30 years originating loading displayed a modest growth from 73 to 196 million tonne and BTKM from 38 to 148. Railways tried to move both bulk and piece meal traffic through one common infrastructure aided by a network of marshalling yards and on line repair depots Performance was beset with high turn rounds, transit detentions and roadside detachments, bringing misery to both operating and maintenance personnel While the Railways by and large fulfilled the traffic demands, they ended up doing justice neither to the bulk nor to the piece meal traffic.

Phase II from 1980 to 2002

This Phase was characterized by a set of significant policy initiatives Failure prone UIC bogie in Freight Stock were replaced by sturdy Cast Steel Bogies. Roller Bearings were replaced by Cartridge bearings. Concept of end to end running of Freight trains from loading point to unloading point was introduced. These block rakes by passed intermediate yards mostly without change of power. Modernisation of Freight Cars and the Operating Innovations delivered the desired results. In the last two decades of the 20th Century higher growth from 196 to 474 million tonnes in originating loading was achieved. Transport output also displayed a growth from 148 to 317 BTKM.

Dawn of A New Century The 10th Plan has got off to a Flying start

The very first year witnessed an increment of 25.5 million tonnes in originating loading and 17 BTKM in Transport Output. The performance in the 2nd year has been equally impressive. An unprecedented increment of 38 million tonnes in originating loading and 24 BTKM in Transport Output has been achieved. The performance could have been even higher but for shortage of Wagon availability and other capacity constraints.

Mission Areas for Railways The way forward agenda for the Railways should primarily focus upon fulfilling the following Missions.

Expansion of system capacity Improved service delivery to the customers and clients Ensuring financial viability and Addressing Safety concerns

System Capacity

Railways share of Freight Traffic is progressively declining in relation to the Road sector. Completion of the Golden Quadrilateral, Silchar to Saurashtra, Srinagar to Kanya Kumari and the Port Connectivity projects of the NHDP would further deplete Railways share. Rail Transport is cheaper in fuel consumption and land utilization. Has better safety record yet the shipper whenever he has an option chooses Road Transport. Situation has been made worse by the Railways lagging behind in creating capacity Some approximate data in respect of Transport Capacity creation by the Railways and the Roadways are plotted in the next slide. Despite simplifying assumptions the trend is disquieting. In the decade that has gone by the Railways created 135 BTKM of Transport Capacity against 368 by the Road Sector. The gap would widen with the completion of the NHDP Projects.

Creation of Transport Capacity

Issues that need to be addressed

Problem of Mixed Traffic Low Productivity of our Freight stock Augmentation of Transport Capacity through Network expansion. Increase in Axle Loads Review of Maximum Moving Dimensions Ensuring Safety in operations Review of Draconian Commercial Procedures and Customer Interface Mechanism,remnants of past era of rationed transport capacity

Traffic Mix

Bulk Transport of heavy haul Freight Traffic Containerized Transport of Non Bulk Traffic Inter City and long distance Mail Express trains. Sectional Stopping Passenger Trains Commuter Services in the Suburban Sections.

Segregation of Traffic

Railways over the years have invested on a unified infrastructure to deal with these divergent operating requirements. An amorphous system has been set up that is optimized for none. Lessons are to be learnt from the adverse experience of mixing Bulk and piece meal traffic in the first 30 years. The time has now come to separate heavy haul freight from fast passenger and premium container services.

Passenger Safety

Contradictory operating, infrastructure and maintenance requirements of Heavy Haul freight and Fast passenger service are a safety hazard in mixed operation situation Recent accidents in Iran (Feb.2004) and N.Korea (April 2004) killing and maiming large number of residents of urban neighborhoods suggest setting up of freight corridors separate not only from passenger carrying trains but also distant from urban areas

Freight Tariff

Railways are decidedly a cheaper mode of transport in comparison to the Roadways. Yet the Tariff structure does not reflect this clear advantage

For a number of commodities and for many distance slabs, rail tariff is in excess of the road tariff. In respect of Coal, Iron Ore, Cement, Food grain, and Fertilizers freight tariff in India when corrected for the Purchasing Power Parity is 4 to 5 times higher than in the USA

Wagon Productivity and Moving Dimensions

Productivity of our Freight Cars is rather low. Our Maximum Moving Dimensions are most restrictive. We have not taken full advantage of our 1676 mm wide Gauge. Other Railroads with narrower gauge pack in more cubic content and weight of the consignment in their wagons, For improving productivity wheel diameter of our Freight Stock should be reduced from the prevailing 1000mm to 840mm Coupling height should be reduced from 1105 mm to around 850mm. Moving Dimensions should be reviewed to permit greater width and height of wagons. Full advantage should be taken of our Broad Gauge. Increase in Axle loads from present 20T to 30T should be planned.

Network Expansion

Option of Network expansion to increase capacity is yet to be seriously exercised by the Railways. Road network has expanded from 4 to 32 lakh km since independence. On the Railways a mere increase of 17% in the network in same period has delivered a growth of 800% in Freight and 600% in Passenger Traffic. In the backdrop of such outstanding performance should we withhold investments in expanding Rail Network. Quantum jump in system capacity needs this option.

Freight Corridor

The Golden Quadrilateral of the Indian Railways is grossly saturated Almost 60% of the line capacity is appropriated by passenger services delivering revenues of only 28%. Balance 40% line capacity used for Freight provide 72% of revenue. Passenger Traffic is expected to grow at 3% per annum. Challenges for Freight Traffic are even more daunting To fulfill the GDP Growth targets 8.5% annual increments need to be planned. The existing system cannot bear this pressure without repercussions on safety in operations and standards of service delivery The usual expedient of splitting block sections, signaling improvements, third line in patches and other line capacity works are unlikely to bridge the capacity shortfall. Given the background of the last 53 years future strategy should aim at

progressive segregation of high speed passenger services from heavy haul freight trains. Perhaps a network of Dedicated Freight Corridors is the answer.

Dedicated Freight Corridor

Operating requirements and the optimum infrastructure for the heavy haul freight trains and fast passenger services are at times contradictory. With progressive diversion of heavy freight traffic to the new corridor the existing network could be developed for delivering high quality passenger service. This would ensure that future investments in system capacity are clearly focused and not a compromise as at present This inter alia is the key to achieving safety in operation. The network would connect points of heavy traffic generation with areas of consumption Suitable connectivity with the existing network. A set of exchange yards for consolidation and splitting of loads. Operating speed 100 km.h Axle load 30 tonnes Trailing loads 120 wagons, 14400t Tare 20t and pay load 100t Liberal moving dimensions to permit double stack containers. Wagons with wheel diameter 840mm Coupling height 850 mm Track structure 68.5 kg/m AAR or 72 kg/m UIC 90 UTS Rails on 1660 PSC sleepers per km 1500m Loops Modern ac/ac Diesel Electric Locomotives of 6000hp operating in Multiple units. Modern Cab Signaling with GSMR 880 Hz communication system between driver and guard.

Suggested Freight Corridors

The alignment of Freight Corridors will be identified through Traffic cum Engineering surveys To begin with KK line could be upgraded to 30 tonne axle load and liberalized moving dimensions to show case the operating capability and financial viability of a dedicated Freight Corridor.

New Freight Corridors

Bailadilla Jagdalpur Dallirajahara Durg Bhilai link should be constructed to similar standards. Mahanadi Coalfields to a suitable point in Karnataka for transporting coal to Power Houses. A link from Amritsar to Kandla, Pipavav, Mundhra and Verawal Ports in Gujrat for carrying double stack containers.

Korba Coalfields to Power Houses in North and West India via New Manikpur Panki and Khan Alampura.

Non bulk Traffic

There is a growing demand for non bulk traffic Non Bulk Traffic between metropolitan cities itself is estimated to be in excess of 150 million tonnes per annum Container Corporation is a success story in this field yet the traffic mopped up is only around 9 million tonnes Perhaps a larger share can be garnered by putting in place multi modal total logistic solutions. Connectivity with ports coupled with double stack container operations can bring about a revolution. A paradigm shift from a mere transporter to a provider of total transport solutions. Configure attractive door to door competitively priced service packages. Provide Rail side Warehouses for retailing needs of manufacturers or distributors. Roll on Roll off services A clientele is fast developing that is prepared to pay whatever it takes to deliver a service that is reliable and ensures safety of his consignment. After all you cheerfully pay a Courier 5 times the normal tariff dont you for security and assured deliveries.?

Basket of Commodities

The basket of commodities hauled by Railways would need to be increased The present designs limited basically to one type each of Open Wagon BOXN, Covered Wagon BCNA and Flat Wagon BRNA is not enough to access the entire market

In order to increase the market penetration Commodity specific wagons will need to be designed Development of Wagons for Bulk Cement, Food grains, Fertilizer,Plastic Pellets and Chemicals needs to be assigned priority. We have cobbled together some of our thoughts at this important juncture in the history of the Indian Railways. Economy is looking up and the winds of change are blowing We request you to deliberate and give us the benefit of your knowledge and experience