EXPERT GROUP MEETING ON HARMONIZATION OF RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR FACILITATION OF INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY TRANSPORT 4 th SEPTEMBER, BANGKOK

Transcription

1 EXPERT GROUP MEETING ON HARMONIZATION OF RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR FACILITATION OF INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY TRANSPORT 4 th SEPTEMBER, BANGKOK

2 BASIC FACTS ABOUT INDIAN RAILWAYS Railways were first introduced to India in the year 1853 from Mumbai to Thane. Indian Railways is one of the world s largest Railway Networks comprising 1,15,000 KM of track over a route of 67,312 KM. IR has close to 7,112 stations. IR is the world s 8 th Largest Commercial or Utility Employer, by number of employees, with over million employees. IR s rolling stock comprises over 2,45,267 freight wagons, 66,392 passenger coaches and 10,499 locomotives. IR runs 12,617 passenger trains and 7,421 freight trains daily. IR carries, on an average, 2.65 Million Tonnes of Freight Traffic and 23 Millions passengers a day.

3 INDIAN RAILWAYS FREIGHT BUSINESS SHARE OF COMMODITIES IN OVERALL LOADING IN POL 4% Fertilizers 5% Foodgrains 4% Container 4% Other Goods 7% Cement 9% Iron Ore 13% RMSP 2% PI & Steel 4% Coal 48% Loading (in Commodity MT) (in ) Coal RMSP Pig Iron & Steel Iron Ore Cement Foodgrains Fertilizers POL (Petroleum, Oil and Lubricant) Container Services Other Goods Total

4 INDIAN RAILWAYS FREIGHT BUSINESS SHARE OF COMMODITIES IN OVERALL FREIGHT EARNINGS IN Fertilizer s 6% POL 6% Foodgrains 7% Container 5% Other Goods 7% Cement 8% Iron Ore 8% PI & Steel 7% Coal 44% RMSP 2% Commodity Earnings (in Crores) Coal RMSP Pig Iron & Steel Iron Ore Cement Foodgrains Fertilizers POL (Petroleum, Oil and Lubricant) Container Services Other Goods Total

5 INDIAN RAILWAYS INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC Indian Railways has international traffic linkages with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

6 INDIA IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE TAR (TRANS-ASIAN RAILWAY) NETWORK

7 INDIAN RAILWAYS INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC INDIA-PAKISTAN TRAFFIC: Two passenger trains, namely Samjhuata Express and Thar Express, ply between India and Pakistan. Samjhauta Express, commonly called Friend Express, is a twice-weekly train which runs between Delhi and Atari in India and Lahore in Pakistan. Thar Express runs between Karachi Khokhrapar (Pakistan side) and Munabao Jodhpur (India side). A goods train also plies between India and Pakistan on the Samjhauta express route carrying some traffic.

8 INDIAN RAILWAYS INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC INDIA-PAKISTAN TRAFFIC (OVERVIEW) Year Passenger (In number) India to Pak to Pak India India-Pakistan Traffic Goods (in Tonnes)Parcel ( in Tonnes) India to Pak Pak to India India to Pak Pak to India

9 INDIAN RAILWAYS INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC INDIA-BANGLADESH TRAFFIC (GOODS): Indian Railways have agreements with Bangladesh Railway for interchange of goods traffic between India and Bangladesh via the following routes: ROUTE Gede(India)--Darsana (Bangladesh) Since 1972 Singhabad(India) Rohanpur (Bangladesh) Petrapole(India) Benapole (Bangladesh) Radhikapur(India)-- Birol (Bangladesh) Since 1992 Since 2001 Functional OPERATIONAL Mahisasan(India) Shahbazpur (Bangladesh) Not operational since December 1996 due to breaches and lack of traffic. Total Goods Traffic between India and Bangladesh was around Tonnes in the year

10 INDIA-BANGLADESH TRAFFIC (GOODS): TRAFFIC AT DIFFERENT INTERCHANGE POINTS (In ) Gede Interchange Point Countries No of trains No of Engines Commodities Total no of 8- wheeler units tonnage Stone DOC Flyash India to Bangladesh Bangladesh to India

11 INDIA-BANGLADESH TRAFFIC (GOODS): TRAFFIC AT DIFFERENT INTERCHANGE POINTS (In ) Petrapole Interchange Point Countries No of trains No of Engines Gypsu m Commodities Sponge- Iron Sugar Foodgrains Total no of 8-wheeler units tonnage India to Bangladesh Bangladesh to India

12 INDIA-BANGLADESH TRAFFIC (GOODS): TRAFFIC AT DIFFERENT INTERCHANGE POINTS (In ) Singhabad Interchange Point Countries No of trains No of Engines Commodities Ballast Flyash POL Total no of 8- wheeler units tonnage India to Bangladesh Bangladesh to India 83 Empties Total No of 8- wheeler wagons

13 From next month, Indian Railways is planning end-to-end customs and immigration services. This is expected to reduce the journey time from current 10 hours to hours and ease the hassle of getting down at the border check points by the passengers. INDIA-BANGLADESH TRAFFIC (PASSENGER): The Maitree Express train runs between Kolkata and Dhaka. The train travels around 375 KMs to reach Dhaka from Kolkata. It takes around 10 hours to cover the entire stretch. Since the Bangladesh side is non-electrified, the entire stretch is covered by broad-gauge diesel locomotives. Maitree Express is a very popular service with over 90 percent occupancy. It is most favoured by Senior Citizens and patients. In , total 1,16,398 passengers travelled between India and Bangladesh in this train.

14 INDIA-BANGLADESH TRAFFIC (LATEST DEVELOPMENTS) The frequency of Maitree Express has been increased from 3 to 4 service in a week w.e.f. November, The Maitree Express service has been made fully AC with new improved rake comprising 4 first AC, 4 AC Chair cars and 2 Power cars from both ends from 14 th April, Introduction of new passenger train service from Khulna to Kolkata via Petrapole (India) and Benapole (Bangladesh). The line between Radhikapur and Birol has been made operational. An agreement has been signed between Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) and Container Company of Bangladesh Ltd (CCBL). Both the parties have identified areas of co-operation.

15 INDIA-BANGLADESH TRAFFIC (LATEST DEVELOPMENTS) Indian Railways is planning to start Container services between Dhaka and Kolkata as a follow up to the agreement between the two sides. This will benefit the trade and business of both the countries.

16 INDIAN RAILWAYS INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC INDIA-NEPAL TRAFFIC: One Broad Gauge rail link between Raxaul (India) and Birganj (Nepal) is operational between India and Nepal. The two countries have signed an agreement for the transit route between Nepal (Kakarbhitta) and Bangladesh (Banglabandha) passing through Phulbari in India. India has also provided Nepal a rail route through Radhikapur for its trade with Bangladesh and for its overseas trade via Bangladesh.

17 KEY CHALLENGES TO INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY TRANSPORT Congestion and delays at border stations, in particular at the stations with break of gauge Lengthy procedures for crossing borders Lack of harmonization in the documents that are required by different countries Lengthy and cumbersome Inspections on both sides of border crossings Different technical standards for rolling stock, power supply, braking systems and signalling systems Different operating rules and tariff structures

18 KEY CHALLENGES TO INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY TRANSPORT Different requirements for train drivers and crew. Incompatible or non-existent cross- border information and data transmission systems. Lack of qualified manpower to operate cross-border trains.

19 SUGGESTIONS TO HELP IMPROVE INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY TRANSPORT To encourage sub-regional and bilateral agreements. A model bilateral/sub-regional agreement that covers essential requirements to facilitate Railway transport may be developed and shared with member countries. This may help member countries plan, develop and implement such agreements. To solve the issue of Break of Gauge by adopting various technical solutions such as Transshipment, bogie changing, use of wagons with variable-gauge bog ies etc. Harmonization of Consignment Note. Adoption of Advance Passenger/Cargo Information System and common standards for compatibility thereof.

20 SUGGESTIONS TO HELP IMPROVE INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY TRANSPORT Standardization of Rolling stock, Infrastructure, Signalling system, axle weight of track, communication system etc. At border crossings : Establishment of standard time for various operations at border points. Completion of required and unrelated operations in parallel. Adoption and extensive use of technological solutions for inspection of Containers. To create a Multi-lateral contractual framework for standardization of various conditions to make wagons interoperable on different networks.

21 THANK YOU