Indian Railways: Transportation of passenger cars through trains on a rise, 68 percent growth reported

Automobile traffic through Indian Railways has witnessed tremendous growth in recent years. Railways, being a cleaner mode of transportation, not only helps the automobile industry to transport bulk volumes over long distances quickly but also allows reducing their carbon footprint. Everyday Indian Railways transport cars in huge numbers, hence, the volume of transportation of small passenger vehicles (essentially cars) by railways has increased by 68 percent on a yearly basis during the first five months of the current financial year - April-August. Till August this financial year, 2,206 rakes were loaded for the same purpose, a Ministry of Railways statement said. For the entire 2021-22 year, it was at 3,344.

The share of the transportation of passenger vehicles through railways increased from just 1.5 percent in 2013-14 to 16 percent in 2021-22.  This growth in automobile traffic has been the result of various initiatives such as the availability of specialized privately owned wagons. 

"On the basis of the issues raised by the stakeholders in the automobile industry, including Society for Indian Automobiles Manufacturers (SIAM), the Automobile Freight Train Operator (AFTO) policy has been liberalized from time to time. It allows automobile manufacturers to own their wagons specialized for their needs," the ministry's statement said. 

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To accommodate SUV cars, the ministry added a new design of auto-carrier wagons that is under finalization."To facilitate loading /unloading of automobiles, design-modification to the existing NMG wagons is also under execution (NMGH and NMGHS) based on the suggestions received from investors/logistics providers. 

"Presently, the Indian Railway has a fleet of 90 Newly Modified Goods rakes. In addition, 43 BCACBM rakes have been inducted by approved train operators under the Automobile Freight Train Operator scheme. Besides, more terminals are being opened up for automobile traffic as per demands of the industry, it added. 

(With inputs from ANI)