Chennai, June 19: Having tasted some success by focussing on the automobile industry, the Southern Railways (S Rly) is now eyeing the consumer durables segment so as to shore up its earnings from freight traffic. It is planning to approach major players in the industry manufacturing high-value items like refrigerators, washing machines, television sets etc but it has not yet evolved the exact model to implement the scheme. These high-value items, railway sources argue, will create a fresh stream of revenue for S Rly and could lead to a substantial increase in the overall earnings of the zonal railway.
The S Rly had seen some problems in the past for increasing its freight earnings on account of its inability to provide total safety for goods in transit. As a result of a well-conceived policy to eliminate such drawbacks, the Railways developed New Modified Goods (NMG's) wagons and had begun transporting automobiles. During fiscal 2000, it had transported 236 rakes (one rake constitutes 25 coaches) earningabout Rs 16.5 crore.
This includes 154 rakes of Hyundai cars, 72 rakes of TAFE tractors and 10 rakes of Toyota vehicles. In the first two months of 2000-01, about 53 rakes were transported and sources said if the trend continued and according to present indications the zone will be able to do on an average 40 rakes per month.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.