Ø 
Meaning: 
Activity of actual haulage of the Wagon or consignment from the
ORIGINATING to DESTINATION station. 
Ø 
Means expenses incurred
in the haulage/transport between the First and Last Marshalling Yard in
movement of Wagons/consignments.
Ø 
LHC includes  
-  A) Traction/Fuel cost  B) Other transportation cost (staff etc)
& C) Track & Signaling cost 
Ø 
LHC excludes – A) Marshalling  B) Transshipment & C) Repacking
Ø 
The importance of LHC is, it is one of the
components for arriving total cost of transportation of passengers and
freight.  Thus LHC plays a major role in
revising the fares of Indian Railways.
Ø 
It is calculated for
every 1000 GTKM  (Gross Tonne Kilo Meter)
Ø 
It is calculated separate for Traction &
Diesel. Also calculate separate for Coaching and Goods.
Ø 
LHC of various Zonal Railways shows no
uniformity.  The huge variation may be on
account of various reasons such as pricing of fuel/ traction, HRA of staff etc.
2012-13 year data of LHC of Zonal Railways is as follows.
| 
   
2012-13 year
  data per 1000 GTKMs 
 | 
 ||
| 
   
Zonal Railway 
 | 
  
   
LHC-Diesel 
 | 
  
   
Remarks 
 | 
 
| 
   
Eastern Railway 
 | 
  
   
Rs.444.41 
 | 
  
   
Highest 
 | 
 
| 
   
East Central Railway 
 | 
  
   
Rs.226.03 
 | 
  
   
Lowest 
 | 
 
| 
   
Indian
  Railways as a whole 
 | 
  
   
Rs.314.40 
 | 
  
   
Average 
 | 
 
| 
   
2012-13 year
  data per 1000 GTKMs 
 | 
 ||
| 
   
Zonal Railway 
 | 
  
   
LHC-Electrical 
 | 
  
   
Remarks 
 | 
 
| 
   
East Central Railway 
 | 
  
   
Rs. 425.17 
 | 
  
   
Highest 
 | 
 
| 
   
North Central Railway 
 | 
  
   
Rs. 109.28 
 | 
  
   
Lowest 
 | 
 
| 
   
Indian
  Railways as a whole 
 | 
  
   
Rs.167.05 
 | 
  
   
Average 
 | 
 
Ø 
Such wide variations among Zonal Railways in
respect of LHC should be investigated and the suitable corrective measures
should be taken.
Ø 
Costing analysis should be done duly comparing
the LHC of various Railways to pinpoint the wastage/obsolete expenses. 
Ø 
In terms of Line Haul Cost (Summary of End
Results 2015-’16), electric traction is cheaper by about 47% for freight
traffic & 50% cheaper for coaching traffic, as compared to diesel traction.
This is evident from table given below:-
| 
   
LHC (In Rs.) per 1000 GTKMs (2014-15
  year) 
 | 
 |||
| 
   
Freight 
 | 
  
   
Coaching 
 | 
 ||
| 
   
Diesel 
 | 
  
   
Electrical 
 | 
  
   
Diesel 
 | 
  
   
Electrical 
 | 
 
| 
   
265.09 
 | 
  
   
139.65 
 | 
  
   
373.51 
 | 
  
   
186.08 
 | 
 
%%%%%