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NEW DELHI :
In order to increase the share of goods from the automotive sector, the railway has designed wagons that can not only transport cars, but also trucks and tractors, said a senior official of the national transport company on Wednesday.
The detailed drawing of the “higher car transport vehicle” is in the final phase, member, Rolling Stock, Railway Authority, Rajesh Agarwal said at a press conference.
The existing wagons, which have two decks, are limited due to the overall height. Cars with a height of more than 1,500 mm cannot be loaded on both decks of the current cars. That said, after larger SUV or MUV cars are loaded on the lower deck, only small cars can be loaded on the upper deck, he said.
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The railroad hopes that the share of automobile freight traffic will increase from the current two percent to eight to ten percent by the end of the next fiscal year.
“We want to make sure that all types of vehicles can be loaded onto the wagons. Trucks, tractors and even two-wheelers that we have never transported before. We speak to the auto industry and also to manufacturers. The industry has enormous potential and design has been rolled out, “said Agarwal.
Customer demand for more sport utility vehicles (SUV) and multi utility vehicles (MUV) is increasing. During the interactions, they requested an increase in the car height to allow loading of these car types on both decks.
“The RDSO (Research Design and Standards Organization) has accordingly developed a concept for higher car transport vehicles that will be 4,877 mm high, which is approximately 450 mm higher than the existing car with a height of 4305 mm.
“The detailed drawing of this car is in its final stages, and industry stakeholders are being consulted through an informal meeting that is held regularly by the Railway Board and RDSO,” said Agarwal.
The railways have taken a number of measures to increase their freight revenues. The freight season surcharge of 15% was recently postponed and the number of rakes to be provided for the automotive sector was increased. A further waiver of five percent was granted for loading mini rakes or smaller packages.
For the automotive industry, Deutsche Bahn offers more rakes for car transportation. There used to be eight car rakes that have now been raised to 26, and the national carrier has plans to provide up to 50 rakes for the transportation of its goods in the industry by the end of the year.
In 2018-19, the railways transported 1,223 million tons of freight and generated revenues of around £ 1.25 billion. The national freight forwarder expects to exceed both volume and sales figures this year.
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