A top official of SER's commercial department told The Financial Express that the scheme, being widely advertised, has been targeted mainly at courier companies.

"During the last couple of years, the courier business has witnessed a phenomenal growth which in turn has led to a greater movement of goods. However, these are mostly parcels and the present scheme is ideal for this sort of cargo. Apart from the courier companies, the scheme can also cater to the needs of small manufacturers, traders and transporters," the official said.

He said this not a new scheme. "It is an existing scheme to which we never received much response. However, of late we have started receiving queries and so we are re-launching the scheme," he said and pointed out that now courier companies cantake space on lease. According to sources, each passenger train can carry 16 tonnes of cargo in the luggage van. SER has decided to lease out four tonnes of cargo space at the front end of passenger trains.

To start with, 30 trains have been identified for the scheme. "This is only the first phase, where we have decided to include 30 passenger trains. If it is successful, we will launch the second phase adding another 20 to 25 trains," the official noted.

SER has received another proposal for the scheme. "For the special trains that run in busy hours, the cargo space can be leased out on a day-to-day basis. Another notification is this regard will be issued soon," he said. It has asked for sealed tenders for leasing of cargo space. The official said the floor price will be somewhere around the existing freight charges for four tonnes of parcel.