RO - RO in Indian Railways

  

RO - RO in Indian Railways

• RO - RO stands for Roll On - Roll Off

• What is RO RO ?  A service to carry loaded trucks on Railway Wagons powered by Electrical Engines in order to decongest Roads. It is a service where trucks and cars ride piggyback on specially designed Wagons. 

•  Win-win situation for truckers as well as for Railways  

Advantages:   

1. Decongest the Roads 

2. Saving cost of Diesel 

3. Saving Man days  

4. Reducing the pollution levels  

5. Relief to Truck Drivers  

6. Decrease in wear and tear of Trucks  

7. Reach faster to Destination 

8. Last mile connectivity

• First in IR: ECR - East Central Railway proposed across the Ganga river 

• Govt of India has accorded in-principle approval to the ECR’s proposal 

• Section 32 of the Railways Act, 1989  - Railway Administration is vested with the power to quote STS - Station to Station rates / Lump Sum rates for carriage of any commodity. 

Salient features:  

1. Railway Receipt will be issued through TMS 

2. Defined as New commodity in IRCA Goods Tariff No.49 (Part I of Vol.I) Group No.22 

3. Gross Weight of the Truck (Tare weight of Truck + Commodity Weight) - shall not exceed the PCC - Permissible Carrying Capacity of a particular Wagon. 

4. Excluded commodities:  

1. All commodities under the Main Head “Coal & Coke” 

2. Iron ore (all types) 

3. Military Traffic 

5.   Subject to levy of ODC - Over Dimensional Consignment charges, Power Block as and where applicable 

6.  Allowed as “TO and FRO” service  

7. Number of trips per month for each rake - decided by the Zonal Railway  

8. Penalty 5% on the Notional freight - If there is a shortfall in the minimum trips 

9. Force Majeure clause is applicable 

10. Free time - 3 Hours each  - At loading and unloading point. 

11. Demurrage and wharfage shall be levied as per extant rules. 

12. Maximum persons allowed - 2 (including truck driver). They have to purchase 2nd class tickets for the journey of equivalent value as per the coaching tariff. 

13. Line Capacity & RO RO ;  

•  Up to 70%  - Shall be introduced. 

•  70% and above - Shall be examined on case to case basis 

14.  BRN Wagons - A type of Flat wagon built solely for transporting Trucks on Railway wagons. Trucks are loaded through the ramp provided at the dead end of the loop on BRN wagons.  

15. A full train of BRN Wagons would have 43 Wagons.  

16. BRN / BRNA stands for Bogie Rail Truck with Airbrake 

Roll on - Roll Off  & Konkan Railways

• 1999 - The first of its kind in India, allowed loaded trucks to be transported on Railway Wagon flatcars. 

• There is NH-66 passing through the same route. Truck drivers find it extremely difficult to drive loaded trucks through ghats, undulating surfaces, narrow roads, and poor road and weather conditions. The KRCL came up with the concept of RORO, where loaded trucks are moved on wagons and traveled by train. 

Key Points for MCQ: 

1. RO - RO stands for Roll On - Roll - Off

2. First time in India - Konkan Railway - 1999 

3. First time in IR - ECR in 2016 

4. PCC stands for Permissible Carrying Capacity 

5. ODC stands for Over Dimensional Capacity 

6. Penalty - 5% on Notional freight - If there is a shortfall in the number of minimum trips. 

7. Free time - 3 Hours at the Loading and unloading point. 

8. Line Capacity & RO RO ;  Up to 70%  - Shall be introduced. 70% and above - Shall be examined on case to case basis

9. Maximum persons allowed along with Truck - 2 Persons (including Driver)  

10. BRN / BRNA stands for Bogie Rail Truck with Airbrake 

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Wagon Leasing Scheme - Freight Incentive Schemes

  

Wagon Leasing Scheme 

 

• Source:  Click for Freight Marketing Master Circular/WLS/2014/0 dated 16.12.2014

• Objects: 

1. Develop a strong wagon leasing market  

2. Encouraging third party leasing of Wagons 

3. To bring in Wagons of better designs 

• Leasing - Types of Wagons:  

1. HCW - High Capacity Wagons 

2. SPW - Special Purpose Wagons 

3. Wagons for Container Movement   

Leasing of Wagons to the following agencies: 

1. End users: for HCW & SPW 

2. Operators: Type of Wagons as permitted under concession 

WLC - Wagon Leasing Company - Eligibility conditions 

1. An entity registered in India under the Companies Act, 1956

2. Asset leasing business experience either in India or Abroad - 5 years (Amendment 1 of Master Circular dated 28.03.2022)

3. Net worth - at least 100 Crores 

WLC Registration 

• Registered with the Ministry of Railways

• One time Non-refundable registration fee - Rs. 5 Crores 

• Registration is valid for 35 years 

Procurement of Wagons by WLC

• Directly from Wagon Manufacturers / through Imports 

• Under intimation to Ministry of Railways (subject to fulfillment of all other conditions stipulated under this policy) - Amendment 1 of Master Circular dated 28.03.2022 

• New Design of Wagons (Not in operation so far in IR) - Procurement with prior administrative & technical approval of MOR - Ministry Of Railways 

• Block Rake Composition: Prescribed No of Wagons + 4% spare + 1 Brake van  

• The Brake van of the rake purchased by the WLC - added to the General pool of IR brake vans. In exchange, IR will meet the operational requirements of providing brake vans to the WLC’s rakes for which it has procured.  

Leasing Contracts: 

• Bi-partite agreements between the WLC and the Lessee.  IR will not have any responsibility or liability except to the extent set forth in the Master Circular. 

• On receipt of an advice of termination of Lease from the Lessee - IR will act and cease to make wagons available to the Lessee and hold such idle leased wagons in its custody awaiting further nomination of a lessee by the WLC. 

• On receipt of advice of termination of lease from the lessee - IR will not act  

• Subleasing - Not permitted 

Stabling charges paid or not by the WLC  

• Yes  - If wagons are terminated on the advice of WLC and hold such wagons in custody of IR on IR owned Railway lines. 

• Yes - If WLC advises IR to move idle leased wagons from one terminal to another terminal/siding

• No - If Leased Wagons are held in the private sidings of WLC or Lessee or any other Private siding selected by WLC  

Maintenance of Wagons of WLC: 

• By Indian Railways on Payment 

Lien by Railways: 

• WLC - Exercised lien on Leased wagons  - to recover dues from the WLC, in case of default

• Lessee - Exercised lien on the consignment loaded in the leased wagons - to recover dues from the Lessee, in case of default   

Dispute Resolution: 

• All disputes (of Agreements of Zonal Railways) will be referred to an Arbitrator nominated by the GM of the Zonal Railway

Key points for MCQ:

1. WLC Registration - valid for 35 years  

2. Non refundable Registration fees(one time) -Rs.5 Crores 

3. Block Rake Composition: Prescribed No of Wagons + 4% spare + 1 Brake van  

4. HCW - High Capacity Wagon:  Wagons with payload -2.0 tonnes higher than the payload of extant similar wagons on IR for 25 T or 22.9 T axle load route, as the case may be. 

5. Lessor: A WLC engaged in the business of leasing wagons to the Lessee. 

6. SPW  - Special Purpose Wagon : Wagons designed for rail transportation of a specific commodity or group of commodities. 

Abbreviations: 

1. WLS: Wagon Leasing Scheme 

2. MOR: Ministry Of Railways 

3. IR: Indian Railways

4. WLC: Wagon Leasing Company 

5. HCW: High Capacity Wagons

6. SPW: Special Purpose Wagons 

7. LWIS: Liberalized Wagon Investment Scheme 

8. CTO: Container Train Operators 

9. SFTO: Special Freight Train Operator 

10. AFTO: Automobile Freight Train Operator 

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TEFD - Traditional Empty Flow Direction

 TEFD - Traditional Empty Flow Direction

• Railway Board’s Corrigendum No.5 to Rate Circular No.13 of 31-3-2022

• Validity from 01-04-2022 to 31-03-2023.

• Objects: To reduce the empty run ratio on IR and to garner additional revenue to

Railways.

• Automatic rebate through computerized FOIS system.

• Notified streams on TEFD shall be based on the flow of empties between

divisions in case of Intra - zonal traffic and between notified divisions of

other zones in case of inter-zonal traffic.

• Traffic under TEFD can be booked from end to end or from any terminal of

the originating division of empty flow stream to any intermediate terminal in

the direction of the empty flow stream.

• Permitted wagons such as  Open – BOXN group, pure BOST rakes, Covered –BCN and BCNHL group, Flat wagons and mixed steel rakes – BRN group, BOST group and CONCORD

• Concession under TEFD i.e., Inter-Zonal and Intra-Zonal traffic.

• Percentage of concession under TEFD - 20% or 15% on NTR of an applicable Class rate subject to floor limit of NTR of Class-100.

• Restricted Commodities are Iron Ore (all types)/Coal & Coke/Chemical Manures/ POL traffic/RMC traffic/Military traffic/Commodities under Class 100 & 100A and less than LR-1.

Lead restriction

• Short lead traffic of less than or equal to 100 km shall not be eligible under this scheme.

• Minimum offer of traffic shall be half rake of – - BCN/BCNA/BCNAHS -10; BCNHL – 10; BOXN Group – 29

• Traffic booked under this scheme shall not be re booked, diverted, or given delivery short of the destination.

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