In what can be termed a Budget-like document, the Railways today released a Business Plan for 2017-18 to shore up revenues and make travel easier for passengers.
The multi-pronged plan, aimed at increasing the share of freight, includes long-term agreements with bulk movers, double stacking of small-size containers, introducing road-railers to hasten container movement at terminals, and roll on-roll off services in the National Capital Region.
With the Rail Budget being subsumed in the General Budget from this fiscal year, a need was felt to spell out in detail the Railways’ plan for the year ahead, said the Ministry, releasing the Business Plan document.
The cornerstone of the new plan is long-term agreements with manufacturers of cement, steel and fertilisers to attract more loads. Besides foodgrains, the Railways has depended on eight commodities, including coal, iron ore, cement and fertiliser for freight revenue. It has now identified new items such as plastics, tiles, sandstone, and bamboo.
Dwarf containers The Railways has also decided to push small-sized boxes — termed dwarf containers — to increase loading. It said the model has been received with enthusiasm by customers wanting to move light-weight commodities, which are currently moved by road.
The Railways is trying to introduce road-railers, which can be de-coupled and driven away from the freight terminal. The road-railer concept eliminates transshipment of containers, saving time, effort and money.
The other key ‘actionable plan’ is the introduction of the roll-on roll-off (RORO) concept in the National Capital Region — that is, trucks getting loaded onto trains to travel longer distances. This is the fourth such service being introduced by the Railways.
De-congesting the NCR “The RORO service can de-congest Delhi’s roads and reduce the pollution caused by heavy vehicles by loading these trucks onto railway flat wagons outside Delhi and unloading them across the city for their onward journey. The first pilot project from Ghari Harsau to Murad Nagar is being flagged off from Patel Nagar,” stated the Business Plan. Each day, around 66,000 trucks enter Delhi.
App for travellers To make train travel easier, the Railways will launch an integrated mobile app for all services, including ticketing, hiring taxis and porters. The app, to be launched in May, will generate revenue by utilising passenger-related data available with the Railways.
To prevent touts from blocking tickets in bulk and to stop impersonation, the Railways will move to an Aadhaar-based online ticketing system.
About 6,000 point-of-sale machines and 1,000 ticket-vending machines will also be installed across the country to move towards a cash-less and paperless ticketing system.