Indian Railways Freight Network Gets Big Boost; Maruti Suzuki To Transport Half Of Its Cars Via Trains By 2030

Maruti Suzuki, India's biggest carmaker, is set to transport half of its cars via the Indian Railways by 2030, reports Business Standard.

This will be a significant deal for the railways. Gurgaon based car maker, during the last four years has already transported 5 lakh cars via the Indian Railways.

"For the last four years, we were trying to use the railways more as a transportation medium. For that, we were pushing for more rail sidings, for easier loading and unloading," stated R C Bhargava, the chairman of MSIL.

"MSIL has drawn up a plan, based on which at least 50 per cent of its cars will be transported through the railways," commented a senior government official.

Indian Railways has organised a lot of meetings with different industry companies such as MSIL, Hyundai Moto, Tata Motors and automotive logistics to increase its freight share in the next ten years.

The railway officials also said that it was attracting more customers since it had liberalised the automobile fright train operator (AFTO) policy so that it could bring in more private investment.

"A few service providers, including APL Vascor and Adani Logistics, too, have got licences for automobile transport. We expect more players to come under the AFTO scheme," he also stated.

Currently, there are around 28 routes which have been declared for the operation of bi-level auto car wagons from the railway rakes. Only the routes in Walajabad (Southern Railway) and Farukhnagar (Northern Railway), are functional as of now.