Indian Railways will increase the haulage charge on container trains

Indian Railways will increase the haulage charge on container trains three to eight per cent from January 1, reports The Hindu newspaper's Business Line section.

The haulage charge is the amount paid by container train operators to the Indian Railways for using the railway network and its infrastructure.

It is a key operating expenditure component for the container train operators. For the Container Corporation (Concor), haulage charge (also called rail freight expenses) accounted for 58 per cent of the total sales in the quarter ending September 30, said the report.

When contacted, various container train operators said they are evaluating the situation and may pass on partial or entire costs to customers.

The Association of Container Train Operators (ACTO) has argued against the increase at the Railway Ministry. "We have already requested Indian Railways to reduce the haulage charges. This move will reduce the rail share of containers in the country," ACTO president RC Dubey told Business Line.

An official from a container train operating firm claimed that ever since the Railway Ministry allowed multiple container train operators in 2006, it has increased haulage charges 70 per cent.

During the same period, the rail freight charges for other commodities have gone up by 20-25 per cent at the most. Before 2006, only Concor was allowed to operate container trains.
 

Sixteen companies, including Concor, have a licence from Indian Railways to operatecontainer trains. In tonnage terms, the export-import container rail transportation segment has witnessed a 1.7 per cent decline in November against the corresponding period last year. The domestic container rail transportation segment has witnessed a 48 per cent growth during the period.

Source: Transportweekly