Lok Sabha Question No. 5043 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-24
Subject: Freight Earnings of Railways
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Hemant Patil

(a)

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.5043 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.07.2019

## FREIGHT EARNINGS OF RAILWAYS

## 5043.   SHRI HEMANT SRIRAM PATIL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS  be pleased to state:

- (a) whether    the  freight  earnings  of    the  Railways  for  2016-17 decreased by 4.46% as compared to 2015-16 and compared to the previous years growth of 3.23%;
- (b)
- if so, the details thereof, zone-wise ;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  assessment regarding  reasons  for    freight  earnings  loss  and  if  so,  the details thereof; and
- (d) the details of the steps taken/ being taken by the Government  to  enhance  freight  earnings  of  Railways  in  the country, year-wise since 2014, zone and State-wise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

to (d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.5043 BY SHRI HEMANT SRIRAM PATIL TO BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  24.07.2019  REGARDING  FREIGHT EARNINGS OF RAILWAYS

- (a) Yes, Sir.
- (b) Zone-wise details of Freight Earnings for the years 2015-16 and 201617 are appended.
- (c) & (d)  Evaluation of various alternatives relating to rationalisation of freight rates is an ongoing process.  To make the rail transportation attractive to its customers, various initiatives have been taken which include  tariff  rationalisation,  classification  of  new  commodities  and expansion  of  freight  basket  through  containerisation.  Some  of    the major  steps  which  have  been  taken  in  last  four  years  to  generate additional revenue are as under:-
- i. Long Term Tariff Contract with key freight customers.
- ii. Introduction  of  new  delivery  model  of  Double  Stack  Dwarf Container.
- iii. FAK rate benefit extended to notified commodities loaded upto 50 TEUs per rake which was earlier 30TEUs per rake.
- iv. 25% discount  granted for movement of empty container and empty flat wagon in container traffic.
- v.
- vi.
- Introduction of Advance Freight scheme.
- Rationalisation of Station to Station Rates.
- vii. Increase  in  Permissible  Carrying  Capacity  (PCC)  of  BFNSM 22.9 wagon.
- viii. Introduction of Customer friendly rationalisation of weighment policy.
- ix. Liberalised  Automatic  Freight  Rebate  Scheme  in  Empty  Flow Directions.
- x.
- xi.
- Withdrawal of Port Congestion Charge.
- Proliferation of Roll-on-Roll off Service on Indian Railways.
- xii. Withdrawal  of  levy  of  congestion  charge  for  stone  traffic transported from Eastern Railway to Bangladesh via Darsana/Benapole.
- xiii. Withdrawal of Inflation in distance for charge @ 50% on goods traffic in Bibinagar-Nadikudi section of SCR.
- xiv. Rationalisation of Coal Tariff.
- xv. More flexibility in Mini rake loading by increasing the distance from 400Km to 600Km.
- xvi. Withdrawal of Dual Freight Policy of Iron Ore traffic.
- xvii. Reduction in minimum distance for charge from 125 km to 100 km.
- xviii. Expansion  of  the  freight  basket  -  Additional  44  commodities have been de-notified from the notified list and brought under FAK rates.
- xix. Dispensation  from  mandatory  (100%)  weighment  in  case  of loading of 'Standard Bags of uniform size' when transported in container.
- xx. Discount for  loading  of  bagged  consignment  in  open  and  flat wagons.
- xxi. Rationalisation of Merry-Go-Round (MGR) scheme.
- xxii. Permitting  all  covered  wagons  for  booking  of  traffic  to  twopoint/multi-point combinations, mini rake.

Recently,  freight  rate  has  been  further  rationalized  with  effect  from

01.11.2018, having following features:

- i. Increase in freight rate of Coal, RMSP (Raw material for steel plants ) , Iron & Steel, Iron ore , Other goods @ 8.75 %.
2. Increase  in  haulage  charge  of  Container  trains  @  5  %  w.e.f
- ii. 01.12.2018.
- iii. No  increase  in  freight  of  Foodgrain,  Fertilizers,  POL,  Sugar, Salt, Edible oils and Cement as these are essential commodities or already at high rate.

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APPENDIX REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5043 BY SHRI HEMANT SRIRAM PATIL  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  24.07.2019 REGARDING FREIGHT EARNINGS OF RAILWAYS

## (b) Zone-wise Freight Earnings for the  years  2014-15 to 201617 are as under:-

( ` in crore)

| Zonal Railway                        | 2014-15     | 2015-16   | 2016-17   |
|--------------------------------------|-------------|-----------|-----------|
| Central                              | 6,825.94    | 7354.87   | 6695.42   |
| Eastern                              | 3,622.07    | 3649.15   | 4049.99   |
| East Central                         | 7,771.60    | 8558.99   | 8302.24   |
| East Coast                           | 11,379.40   | 12290.90  | 13263.88  |
| Northern                             | 7,313.74    | 7191.59   | 6697.96   |
| North Central                        | 8,782.42    | 9321.97   | 8490.48   |
| North Eastern                        | 1,322.40    | 1321.13   | 1409.23   |
| North-east Frontier                  | 1,871.88    | 1930.89   | 1918.66   |
| North Western                        | 4,914.57    | 4772.78   | 4465.17   |
| Southern                             | 3,045.72    | 2816.17   | 2615.32   |
| South Central                        | 10,778.47   | 10145.43  | 9366.99   |
| South Eastern                        | 9,611.12    | 10558.34  | 10899.96  |
| South East Central                   | 9,613.06    | 10932.29  | 10671.80  |
| South Western                        | 3,243.40    | 3000.64   | 2792.27   |
| Western                              | 8,146.59    | 7597.29   | 6100.69   |
| West Central                         | 7,548.96    | 7765.22   | 6598.48   |
| Total                                | 1,05,791.34 | 109207.65 | 104338.54 |
| Percentage growth over previous year |             | 3.23%     | -4.46%    |

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