A network of high-performance freight corridors is to be developed with public-private participation through a special purpose vehicle owned by IR

A GROUP OF Ministers appointed by the Indian government confirmed on August 27 that a Special Purpose Vehicle is to be created to facilitate the development of the country's first two high-performance freight railways at an estimated cost of Rs220bn.

Detailed planning is already underway on the two routes, which were approved in principle by the government in March (RG 4.06 p175). They are intended to form the first phase of a network totalling around 10 000 km, which is to be developed over the next decade at a cost of more than Rs700bn.

Built to a larger loading gauge and capable of accepting wagons with axleloads of 30 tonnes or more (Table I), the corridors will permit the gradual segregation of freight and passenger services, allowing existing mixed-traffic routes to be optimised as high-quality passenger corridors.

Initial routes

Rites, which prepared the initial feasibility report, has been commissioned to prepare detailed plans for two main corridors. These are aimed at easing capacity constraints on the so-called Golden Quadrilateral routes linking the metropolitan regions of New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, which at present carry around 80% of IR's traffic.

• The 1 493 km double-track Western Corridor will run from Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai via Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Phulera and Rewari to Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, close to New Delhi. This will handle the rapidly-growing container traffic between the ports of Gujarat and Maharashtra and the hinterland in north India, cutting the Mumbai - Delhi time from 60 to around 36 h. There will be a feeder route to serve the container depot at Tughlakabad.
• The 819 km double-track Eastern Corridor between Sonnagar and Khurja runs parallel to the existing Howrah - Delhi main line via Mughalsarai, Fatehpur and, Etawah. Bypasses are planned around the urban areas at Allahabad, Kanpur, Tundla, Hathras and Aligarh, and the corridor will be grade-separated from intersecting branch lines.
• A single-track extension of the Eastern Corridor will run to Ludhiana in Punjab via Khurja, Meerut, Saharanpur, and Ambala. Consultants are currently examining the technical and economic feasibility of extending the route to Gomoh and the ports in western Bengal.
• The Western Corridor will also have a feeder route to Dandarikalan container depot near Ludhiana, running via Rewari, Hissar and Jakhal.
• A new line is to be built between Rewari and Dadri to bypass the congested Delhi metropolitan area.

Both corridors will have 1 500 m long loops designed to accommodate trains carrying 14 000 to 16 000 tonnes. The western corridor will be operated by AC-motored diesel locomotives of 4 000 to 6 000 hp working in multiple. The Eastern Corridor will be equipped with conventional 25 kV AC electrification.

Various options for the approaches to the ports through the congested metropolitan areas will be examined in the detailed project report.

Although IR's immediate priority is to relieve its saturated core routes, another school of thought suggests that priorities for the freight corridors should be determined by a longer-term assessment of traffic flows and other potential benefits, such as the opening-up of new centres of activity and eliminating regional imbalances. For example, the Manuel Menezes Committee set up by the Indian Planning Commission in 1987 recommended development of a dedicated coal corridor on a new alignment.

There is also a case for prioritising the flows of iron ore over the South Eastern and the East Coast railways. Most of this traffic operates within closed circuits, so upgrading these routes could deliver immediate results, and provide a useful test bed to firm up technical specifications and iron out any potential problems.

Larger loading gauge

One of the biggest constraints on rail productivity is the restrictive kinematic envelope, or Maximum Moving Dimensions in IR parlance. This has essentially remained unchanged since 1913, and today railways operating on both 1000 mm and 1435 mm gauges offer higher cubic capacity and payloads than IR's 1676 mm gauge vehicles (Fig 1). As a result, according to a study conducted by consultant David Burns, the unit cost of bulk freight movement on the Indian Railways is many times that of the most efficient US railroads when considered on the basis of purchasing power parity. The payload to tare ratio of IR's wagon fleet varies from 2 to 2·6, with only the BOXNLW (2·96) and BOY (3·42) designs approaching the range of 3·5 to 5 achieved on other railways. Apart from the restrictive vehicle profile, a large wheel diameter of 1 000 mm, a coupling height of 1 105 mm and a relatively low axleload of 20·3 tonnes have not helped.

The construction of dedicated routes presents an opportunity to effect a quantum leap in productivity by modifying the design parameters of freight stock and liberalising the loading gauge. A maximum vehicle height of 6 930 mm has been recommended, which would permit double-stacking of 9 ft 6 in high containers as well as roll-on roll-off piggyback services and the use of tri-level car-carrying wagons (Fig 2). Horizontal and vertical structure dimensions have been determined at 5 478 mm and 7 771 mm respectively to leave provision for future electrification. A wheel diameter of 915 mm and coupling height of 936 mm have been recommended to enhance the volumetric and load carrying capacity of the freight stock.

However, it will be important to ensure a reasonable degree of interoperability between the freight corridors and the existing network, in particular where feeder services are moving on and off the trunk lines. Accordingly while the revised vehicle profile provides a width of 3 660 mm, initially it would be limited to 3 500 mm to ensure interoperability of at least the general service wagons. In the longer term, IR would be expected to upgrade as much as possible of its existing network to the new standards. During the first stage, however, the priority will be to enhance the carrying capacity through marginal relaxation of the loading gauge coupled with an increase of axleloads to around 25 tonnes.

Table II shows the proposed parameters for interoperable freight vehicles able to run on both new and existing lines. When handling bulk commodities such as coal, iron ore or cement, it may not be possible to make full use of the 30 tonne axleload within the existing height limits of 4 265 mm in the centre and 3 735 mm on the sides. IR is actively examining the possibility of relaxing these dimensions to 4 495 mm and 4 205 mm respectively, by selectively cutting back the platform canopies on the existing network. This would be a major task but offers immense benefits in terms of enhanced productivity. In conjunction with a vehicle width of 3 500 mm and smaller wheels this would conveniently permit the operation of freight cars with gross weight in the range of 110 to 120 tonnes.

Institutional arrangements

Funding and management is a crucial issue, which has been the subject of a wide-ranging debate between the Planning Commission and the ministries of Railways and Finance. Early proposals envisaged a Special Purpose Vehicle comprising IR and various stakeholders drawn from both public and private rail users, which would be responsible for construction, maintenance and operation of the freight corridor network.

Under this proposal different institu-tions could be responsible for various sectors of the freight corridors network, with representation depending upon the range of services being provided. For instance, the double-stack corridor could have an SPV which includes the port operators, both public and private.

Such a structure would permit a departure from IR's labour-intensive management culture. By distancing itself from the government, the SPV could function as a market-driven organisation, vested with reasonable independence and autonomy in fixing rates and tariffs dictated by market forces and competition. An independent regulator would determine the optimum tariff and safeguard the interests of rail users.

However, freight revenues are IR's bread and butter, and understandably the railway does not wish to share them with others. The Railways Ministry has been lobbying strongly in favour of an entity wholly-owned by IR. Having reported a substantial surplus in the past year, and with a continuing trend in the first quarter of the present year, IR wants to go it alone, and fund the freight corridors from internal resources and make up the shortfall by market borrowings, which could be paid back in about 15 years. This would allow any revenue surpluses to be reinvested into its own network. The Railways Board's Infrastructure Adviser, Mr Prakash, suggested that e_SSLqas of now, private sector companies do not have the capability to handle such a massive project'.

A government committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary was formed to provide co-ordination between the ministries for smooth implementation of the project. The ministers' view is that the SPV should initially be wholly-owned by IR, although a second public sector stakeholder may be sought later. Private sector involvement would be restricted to tendering for construction and maintenance work on the two lines.

Around one-third of the initial phase is to be funded through equity and two-thirds from debt. Although the exact funding pattern and the SPV's business plan remain unclear, the Japan International Co-operation Agency is due to submit a feasibility report in 2007 which may release JBIC funding. The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have also expressed interest in providing funding for the project.

Fig 1. IR's existing vans have a much smaller capacity than an AAR high-cube boxcar

Fig 2. The kinematic envelope for the freight corridors is designed to permit double-stacking of 9 ft 6 in high containers

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