Chapter 1 Freight services in Indian Railways - Comptroller and ...

Report No .8 of 2010-11 (Railways)
crore (January 2007) has almost doubled and is estimated at Rs.48,000
crore at present costs.
Permanent way
After enhanced loading was permitted on several routes, the permanent way
(railway track) required strengthening to bear the heavier loads. The sections
with 90R rails and/or steel trough sleepers were being identified in the zones
and upgraded every year with 60 kilogram rails and PSC sleepers with a
density of 1,660 sleepers per kilometer. However it was seen that even on
routes identified for enhanced loading, in some zones (NCR and SWR)
upgradation works on 115.54 6 kilometers were not taken up and in some
others (NR, ER and NWR) the works taken up on 505.09 out of the planned
950.10 kilometers 7 were progressing slowly due to operational constraints
such as non-availability of the sections and locomotives for testing the track.
Similarly, while works of upgrading the sleeper density were not taken up in
one zone (NCR) in some others (NR, NWR and SWR) works taken up on
558.20 out of 1,110 kilometers were progressing slowly.
Thus the progress of capacity augmentation, throughput enhancement, port
connectivity works and upgradation of permanent way was behind schedule.
Infrastructure augmentation was not commensurate with the projected growth
in freight traffic and IR had a huge throw forward of 408 projects costing
Rs.1,41,015 crore (including the Dedicated Freight Corridor) as at the end of
March 2009.
Recommendation
IR needs to expedite the capacity augmentation, throughput enhancement and
port connectivity works to ensure that the infrastructure is commensurate with
the projected traffic volume. IR needs to effectively monitor and curtail
procedural delays in works contracts.
1.9.2 Utilisation and maintenance of available assets
IR’s phenomenal growth in freight loading in the recent past was due to
efficient asset utilisation apart from adoption of market responsive strategies.
The earlier performance audit on Freight and Wagon Management 8 and the
multi disciplinary core committees constituted in the zones to oversee the
impact of enhanced loading of wagons on some vital components of rolling
stock and permanent way (railway track) provided ample evidence that the
existing infrastructure was in fact over stretched. A test check of the current
quarterly statistics continued to indicate that the wear and tear on rolling stock
had increased manifolds as shown below:
6 NCR-99.49, SWR(Bangalore Division) 16.05
7 NR-232.90, ER- 95.87 and NWR-176.32 out of planned 541.92, 109.50 and 298.68 kms respectively.
8 Chapter I of Report No 6 of 2007 of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (Union Government Railways).
22