Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/business/railways-indian-railways-to-launch-new-rakes-designed-for-suvs-3204237/
Publisher: Financial Express
To cater to the ever-growing needs of the automobile sector, Indian Railways will introduce new rakes designed especially to ferry SUVs.
According to sources, the RDSO (Research Designs and Standards Organization) has approved new designs of rakes that can accommodate SUVs, which are taller and wider than almost all hatchbacks and sedans.
At present, older rakes can accommodate around 200 hatchbacks, however, they can only take in about 100-120 SUVs in a single-deck configuration.
The increasing production of SUVs due to high demand as well as the preference for using railways on account of cost-effectiveness and environment-friendly factor warranted the development of newer rakes.
In the quarter from April to June 2023, utility vehicles constituted 54.9% of the passenger vehicle sales in the country. Currently, there are 40 plus ‘Double Decker’ rakes operated by AFTOs (Automobile Freight Train Operator Scheme).
Besides, 50 New Modified Goods (NMG) rakes (each rake has 25 wagons) of ‘HS grade’ are being commissioned in the country within a year.
Notably, the ‘NMG HS’ allows transporting vehicles in ‘Double Decks’. Additionally, six new routes are being commissioned to enable plying of taller wagons.
“The sales of sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) have experienced a significant surge in recent years. Railway’s share in automotive movement is continuously increasing over the years,” said Tarun Garg, COO, Hyundai Motor India adding that the automobile manufacturer is gradually increasing its rail share to around 23% in the overall movement of cars.
According to some estimates, the share of railways in terms of the overall automobile movement is around 10%.
“Today, more than 90% of vehicle transportation is through the road. SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) has been in regular interactions with the Railway Board on various policy and operational issues related to the auto sector,” said Rajesh Menon, Director General at SIAM.
“Presently, about 14% of Passenger Vehicles manufactured in India are shipped using Railways, though the share of Two-Wheelers using railways is very low,” Menon added.
To support the industry growth, there is a need to continuously increase the train rolling stock for automobiles to ensure that some percentage of vehicles continue to get transported through railways and share to some extent the load that is presently done via road, Menon said.
