14-Dec-2022: National Rail Plan aims to increase share of freight traffic from current percentage of 27 to 45 by 2030

The National Rail Plan envisages that the share of freight traffic by rail should go up from current share of 27% to 45% by 2030. The construction of Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) on the important high density route is an important policy measure by Indian Railways to arrest the trend of falling market share of railways in the country and also will shift the advantage in favour of rail transport. DFC operation will bring-in efficiency in freight operation and enable rail tariff being more competitive because of its following operational/design features:

• Higher throughput per wagon and per train: Run Heavy Haul trains with overall load of 13000 tonne.
• Lower Energy Consumption: Reduce Operation and Maintenances Costs
• Reduction in Transit time: Reduce logistic cost of transportation and better utilization of Rolling stock

Moreover Indian Railway has taken number of multi-pronged strategy to increase its model share in freight segment which includes tariff rationalization and Tariff/freight incentive schemes which includes; diversification of freight basket, Liberalised Automatic Freight Rebate Scheme in Traditional Empty Flow Directions, Rationalization of Station to station rates policy, Rationalization of Merry-Go- Round, Concession in short Lead Traffic, Discount in freight to fly ash traffic booked in Open/flat Stock & covered wagons, Round trip charging for ultra-short lead (upto 50Kms) container traffic, Round Trip Traffic (RTT) Policy, Automobile Freight Train Operator Scheme (AFTO),  Introduction of Cube Container for two wheeler traffic. A New ‘Gati Shakti Multi- Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT)’ policy has also been launched to facilitate development of cargo terminals on non-Railway land, as well as on Railway land (partially or fully) etc.

In addition, various other schemes have also been introduced to attract private investment in General Purpose Wagons, Special Purpose/High Capacity wagons and Automobile carrier wagons etc. 

The divestment of CONCOR to the extent of 30.8% is based on the cabinet committee on Economic Affair(CCEA) approval on 20.11.2019 which is an independent activity and without any relation to para (a) above.

The Master Circular on “Policy for Management of Railway Land” issued on 04.10.2022 permits setting up of Renewable power plants for exclusive use of Railways for a lease period of upto 35 years @ ₹1/- per square meter (sqm) per annum. Further, it permits Hospitals selected through a transparent policy and Kendriya Vidyalaya  Sangathan for a lease period of upto 60 years @₹1/- per square meter(sqm) per annum.

24-Mar-2021: National Rail Plan

Indian Railways have prepared a National Rail Plan (NRP) for India – 2030. The Plan is to create a ‘future ready’ Railway system by 2030. The NRP is aimed to formulate strategies based on both operational capacities and commercial policy initiatives to increase modal share of the Railways in freight. The objective of the Plan is to create capacity ahead of demand, which in turn would also cater to future growth in demand right up to 2050 and also increase the modal share of Railways to 45% in freight traffic and to continue to sustain it. To achieve this objective all possible financial models including Public Private Partnership (PPP) are being considered.

The main features of the National Rail Plan are:-

• Formulate strategies based on both operational capacities and commercial policy initiatives to increase modal share of the Railways in freight to 45%.
• Reduce transit time of freight substantially by increasing average speed of freight trains to 50Kmph.
• As part of the National Rail Plan, Vision 2024 has been launched for accelerated implementation of certain critical projects by 2024 such as 100% electrification, multi-tracking of congested routes, upgradation of speed to 160 kmph on Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai routes, upgradation of speed to 130kmph on all other Golden Quadrilateral-Golden Diagonal (GQ/GD) routes and elimination of all Level Crossings on all GQ/GD route.
• Identify new Dedicated Freight Corridors.
• Identify new High Speed Rail Corridors.
• Assess rolling stock requirement for passenger traffic as well as wagon requirement for freight.
• Assess Locomotive requirement to meet twin objectives of 100% electrification (Green Energy) and increasing freight modal share.
• Assess the total investment in capital that would be required along with a periodical break up.
• Sustained involvement of the Private Sector in areas like operations and ownership of rolling stock, development of freight and passenger terminals, development/operations of track infrastructure etc.

The draft plan has been put up in the public domain (The Indian Railways website) and is also being circulated amongst stakeholders for comments/remarks.

Once the comments/remarks from stakeholders have been obtained, the NRP in its final form will be issued incorporating the pipeline of projects that will be executed up to 2030. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for each project will be prepared and processed for sanctioning. Once sanction is obtained, fund requirement on a year to year basis will be worked out and the funds earmarked in the annual capital expenditure.

The NRP is for the entire Indian Railways network and not only for districts connected to the existing rail network but also districts indirectly impacted by rail transportation. In effect virtually all the districts of the country get linked to the plan.

Implementation of the NRP has already commenced. The Indian Railways has identified and prioritised a large number of projects designated as Super Critical, Critical and Coal/Port connectivity, for completion as per the Vision 2024 document which is a subset of the National Rail Plan.

16-Mar-2022: National Rail Plan Vision – 2030

Indian Railways have prepared a National Rail Plan (NRP) for India – 2030. The Plan is to create a ‘future ready’ Railway system by 2030.  The NRP is aimed to formulate strategies based on both operational capacities and commercial policy initiatives to increase modal share of the Railways in freight to 45%. The objective of the Plan is to create capacity ahead of demand, which in turn would also cater to future growth in demand right up to 2050 and also increase the modal share of Railways to 45% in freight traffic and to continue to sustain it.

The key objectives of the National Rail Plan are:- 

• Formulate strategies based on both operational capacities and commercial policy initiatives to increase modal share of the Railways in freight to 45%.
• Reduce transit time of freight substantially by increasing average speed of freight trains to 50Kmph.
• As part of the National Rail Plan, Vision 2024 has been launched for accelerated implementation of certain critical projects by 2024 such as 100% electrification, multi-tracking of congested routes, upgradation of speed to 160 kmph on Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai routes, upgradation of speed to 130kmph on all other Golden Quadrilateral-Golden Diagonal (GQ/GD) routes and elimination of all Level Crossings on all GQ/GD route.
• Identify new Dedicated Freight Corridors.
• Identify new High Speed Rail Corridors.
• Assess rolling stock requirement for passenger traffic as well as wagon requirement for freight.
• Assess Locomotive requirement to meet twin objectives of 100% electrification (Green Energy) and increasing freight modal share.
• Assess the total investment in capital that would be required along with a periodical break up.
• Sustained involvement of the Private Sector in areas like operations and ownership of rolling stock, development of freight and passenger terminals, development/operations of track infrastructure etc.

58 Super critical Projects of a total length of 3750 kms costing ₹39,663 Crore and 68 Critical Projects of a total length of 6913 kms costing ₹75,736 Crore, have been identified for completion by 2024.

11-Feb-2022: National Rail Plan (NRP) for India – 2030

Indian Railways have prepared a National Rail Plan (NRP) for India – 2030. The Plan is to create a ‘future ready’ Railway system by 2030. The NRP is aimed to formulate strategies based on both operational capacities and commercial policy initiatives to increase modal share of the Railways in freight to 45%. The objective of the Plan is to create capacity ahead of demand, which in turn would also cater to future growth in demand right up to 2050 and also increase the modal share of Railways to 45% in freight traffic and to continue to sustain it. To achieve this objective all possible financial models including Public Private Partnership (PPP) are being considered.

As Indian Railways is the growth engine of the nation, NRP is aimed to reform Railways to make it more efficient, greener and modern which will translate into cheaper, safer and assured mode of transport to the common man be it in passenger or freight segment. To achieve this objective, following main features of the National Rail Plan have been identified:-

• Formulate strategies based on both operational capacities and commercial policy initiatives to increase modal share of the Railways in freight to 45%.
• Reduce transit time of freight substantially by increasing average speed of freight trains to  50Kmph.
• As part of the National Rail Plan, Vision 2024 has been launched for accelerated implementation of certain critical projects by 2024 such as 100% electrification, multi-tracking of congested routes, upgradation of speed to 160 kmph on Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai routes, upgradation of speed to 130kmph on all other Golden Quadrilateral-Golden Diagonal (GQ/GD) routes and elimination of all Level Crossings on all GQ/GD route.
• Identify new Dedicated Freight Corridors.
• Identify new High Speed Rail Corridors.
• Assess rolling stock requirement for passenger traffic as well as wagon requirement for freight.
• Assess Locomotive requirement to meet twin objectives of 100% electrification (Green Energy) and increasing freight modal share.
• Assess the total investment in capital that would be required along with a periodical break up.
• Sustained involvement of the Private Sector in areas like operations and ownership of rolling stock, development of freight and passenger terminals, development/operations of track infrastructure etc.

3-Feb-2021: Draft Final Report of the National Rail Plan

The Government has issued the Draft Final Report of the National Rail Plan and the same is available on the official web site of Ministry of Railways.

National Rail Plan aims at providing a long term perspective planning for augmenting the Railway Network. Suggestions and inputs from all stakeholders including Ministries, departments, sectors, customers etc. are being incorporated in the Plan. All possible financial models including Public Private Partnership model are being considered to achieve the objectives of National Rail Plan.

18-Dec-2020: Indian Railways issues draft National Rail Plan

In an endeavour to address the inadequacies of capacity constraints and improve its modal share in total freight eco system of the country, Indian Railways has come up with Draft National Rail Plan.

A long term strategic plan called the National Rail Plan has been developed to plan infrastructural capacity enhancement along with strategies to increase modal share of the Railways. The National Rail Plan will be a common platform for all future infrastructural, business and financial planning of the Railways. This plan is being circulated among various Ministries for their views now. Railways aim to finalise the Final plan by January 2021.

The objective of the Plan is:

• To create capacity ahead of demand by 2030, which in turn would cater to growth in demand right up to 2050 and also increase the modal share of Railways from 27% currently to 45% in freight by 2030 as part of a national commitment to reduce Carbon emission and to continue to sustain it. Net Zero Carbon emission by 2030.
• To assess the actual demand in freight and passenger sectors, a yearlong survey was conducted over hundred representative locations by survey teams spread all over the country.
• Forecast growth of traffic in both freight and passenger year on year up to 2030 and on a decadal basis up to 2050.
• Formulate strategies based on both operational capacities and commercial policy initiatives to increase modal share of the Railways in freight to 45% by 2030.
• Reduce transit time of freight substantially by increasing average speed of freight trains from present 22Kmph to 50Kmph.
• Reduce overall cost of Rail transportation by nearly 30% and pass on the benefits to the customers.
• Map the growth in demand on the Indian Railway route map and simulate the capacity behaviour of the network in future.
• Based on above simulation identify infrastructural bottlenecks that would arise in future with growth in demand.
• Select projects along with appropriate technology in both track work, signalling  and rolling stock to mitigate these bottlenecks well in advance.

As part of the National Rail Plan, Vision 2024 has been launched for accelerated implementation of certain critical projects by 2024 such as 100% electrification, multitracking of congested routes, upgradation of speed to 160 kmph on Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai routes, upgradation of speed to 130kmph on all other Golden Quadrilateral-Golden Diagonal (GQ/GD) routes and elimination of all Level Crossings on all GQ/GD route.

• Future projects for implementation beyond 2024 in both track and signalling have been identified with clear cut timelines for implementation.
• Three Dedicated Freight Corridors, namely East Coast, East-West & North-South identified along with timelines. PETS survey already underway.
• Several new High Speed Rail Corridors have also been identified. Survey on Delhi-Varanasi High Speed Rail already under way.
• Assess rolling stock requirement for passenger traffic as well as wagon requirement for freight.
• Assess Locomotive requirement to meet twin objectives of 100% electrification (Green Energy) by December 2023 and also the increasing traffic right up to 2030 and beyond up to 2050.
• Assess the total investment in capital that would be required along with a periodical break up.
• Identify new streams of finance and models for financing including those based on PPP.
• For successful implementation of the National Rail Plan ,the Railways will be looking to engage with Private Sector, PSUs, State Governments and Original Equipment Manufacturers(OEM)/Industries.
• Sustained involvement of the Private Sector in areas like operations and ownership of rolling stock, development of freight and passenger terminals, development/operations of track infrastructure etc.

In effect the National Rail Plan envisages an initial surge in capital investment right up to 2030 to create capacity ahead of demand and increase the modal share of the Railways in freight by 45%.

Post 2030 , the revenue surplus generated would be adequate to finance future capital investment and also take the burden of debt service ratio of the capital already invested. Exchequer funding of Rail projects would not be required.