With policies for operation of the private freight terminals (PFT) and special freight trains (SFTO) put in place, the railway ministry is looking at regaining its 10 per cent share in the freight transportation market from road operators over the next five years.
Railway Board Chairman Vivek Sahai said: “We have finalised the policies for the operation of freight terminals and special freight trains by private players. The PFT scheme will enable rapid development of our network of freight terminals with the infusion of private investment. The SFTO scheme will make way for the induction of special purpose wagons (SPW) and increase rail share in non-conventional traffic. Together, the policies are expected to substantially boost freight traffic on the railways.”
A senior official at the ministry added there were around 900 brownfield terminals in the country owned by private players which were either unutilised or underutilised. The PFT scheme would enable commercial utilisation of such units and integrate rail transport with the supply chain to provide cost-effective logistics solutions to end users.
The PFT operators can provide value-added logistics services at their facilities. In return, they would have to shell out 50 per cent of terminal charges or Rs 10 per tonne of freight handled at the sidings to the railways. To make the proposition viable for operators, railways have further imposed a moratorium of two years on payments for brownfield units and five years for greenfield terminals.
Complementing the PFT scheme, railways have formulated the SFTO policy in line with which private players will be able to induct SPW to transport non-conventional traffic such as bulk cement, bulk fertilisers, fly ash, bulk alumina, steel products, vegetable oil and molasses. Operators will be given a rebate of 12 per cent on base freight for 20 years for recovery of cost by the railways.
Railways, at present, load 4-5 rakes of fly ash per day.