Goods Transportation - Addl Inputs
Below are the key issues, root causes, solutions as identified by you in regards to goods transportation by Railways.
Kindly review them and share any additional inputs you may have. We will soon be compiling the whitepaper for the Railway Minister and the leadership team so actions can be taken in this area.
Goods Transportation in Railways – Solutions
1. Goods transportation should be made a separate entity under railways
2. The ministry should give equal importance to goods transportation as it gives to passenger transportation
3. The department should be completely upgraded to the latest technology platform
4. The staff should be made accountable for their work
5. Systems and processes should be implemented to bring transparency and keep a strict vigil on the on ground employees working in goods transportation
6. Rate charts should be put in the booking offices and should be available with the station master as well as on the internet
7. Online booking and tracking of the goods should be started
8. With barcodes/RFID, any customer should be able to track a railway goods consignment like their private courier
9. A dedicated freight corridor should be developed for this to be successful in the long run
10. Railways should make sure that the goods are delivered in the promised timeframe
11. Storage facility should be developed on all major stations
12. The booking service should be operational round the clock
13. Railways should tie up with insurance companies to insure the goods at a reasonable rate
14. Just like passenger tickets, goods booking should also generate a train/bogie number
15. The senior management of the goods transportation should comprise of people who have actual experience in the field
16. The staff should be given refresher courses on customer service and soft skills every year
17. Loading and unloading in goods trains can be completely modernised with the help of machinery, so that these are handled in a very methodical way avoiding damage to the goods, speed in loading/unloading, and thus reducing costs
18. There can be a separate route near major railway junctions so that the goods trains do not need to waiting for the track to clear
19. Roll on and Roll Out should be introduced (a fully loaded truck can be loaded on a flat type wagon) and service can be provided from point to point
20. Consideration should be given to Introducing a system of spot booking & door pick up and door delivery system
21. Railways may consider introduction of road transportation as well, particularly, for short distances
22. The coaches could be redesigned to suit the specific needs of industries and to avoid pilferage, theft etc.
Goods Transport in Indian Railways – Root Causes
1. It is one of the cheapest mode of goods transportation in the country
2. The quantity of good transported every day is huge
3. Though transportation of goods by the Indian railways share the major portion its earnings, the goods trains are handled in a very negligent manner
4. The supervision over the on-ground staff is weak
5. The employees intentionally remove the rate charts
6. The employees work under the comfort of having a secure job
7. Staff lack training in soft skills, technology
8. Lower level staff looks for a chance to ask for bribes
9. Lack of dedicated freight corridors
10. Private freight operators pay bribes at various levels
11. The ways of goods transportation in railways are still archaic
12. Lack of inclination towards increasing the revenue through improvement in goods transportation service
13. There are not set processes in place
14. Employees themselves engage in malpractices to make money on the side
15. Customer satisfaction is not the top priority for the goods transport division
16. Goods trains run late as preference is given to passenger trains
17. Majority of the system still depends on manual labour
18. The RPF itself acts as a perpetrator
19. There is a nexus among some of the drivers/guards of the goods trains and the mafias to facilitate robbing of goods.
Goods Transport in Indian Railways – Key Issues
1. The staff is not cooperative
2. No correct rate chart to guide the customers
3. No proper tracking mechanism in terms of present status and delivery timelines
4. Speed of transportation is really slow
5. No clear demarcation in terms of classification of goods transported
6. No proper storage facility for goods before embarkation and disembarkation
7. No proper facilities for cold shipments - perishable goods
8. No point to point services for enhancing the connectivity for commodity products
9. 24x7 booking service not available
10. Many items are mishandled and broken by the porters
11. Goods are stolen many times
12. The staff does not confirm which train will be carrying the goods
13. There is no insurance for goods in transit by train
14. There is no system for recovery of lost goods
15. There is no compensation given for damaged good
16. Time of delivery is not communicated in advance. more
Kindly review them and share any additional inputs you may have. We will soon be compiling the whitepaper for the Railway Minister and the leadership team so actions can be taken in this area.
Goods Transportation in Railways – Solutions
1. Goods transportation should be made a separate entity under railways
2. The ministry should give equal importance to goods transportation as it gives to passenger transportation
3. The department should be completely upgraded to the latest technology platform
4. The staff should be made accountable for their work
5. Systems and processes should be implemented to bring transparency and keep a strict vigil on the on ground employees working in goods transportation
6. Rate charts should be put in the booking offices and should be available with the station master as well as on the internet
7. Online booking and tracking of the goods should be started
8. With barcodes/RFID, any customer should be able to track a railway goods consignment like their private courier
9. A dedicated freight corridor should be developed for this to be successful in the long run
10. Railways should make sure that the goods are delivered in the promised timeframe
11. Storage facility should be developed on all major stations
12. The booking service should be operational round the clock
13. Railways should tie up with insurance companies to insure the goods at a reasonable rate
14. Just like passenger tickets, goods booking should also generate a train/bogie number
15. The senior management of the goods transportation should comprise of people who have actual experience in the field
16. The staff should be given refresher courses on customer service and soft skills every year
17. Loading and unloading in goods trains can be completely modernised with the help of machinery, so that these are handled in a very methodical way avoiding damage to the goods, speed in loading/unloading, and thus reducing costs
18. There can be a separate route near major railway junctions so that the goods trains do not need to waiting for the track to clear
19. Roll on and Roll Out should be introduced (a fully loaded truck can be loaded on a flat type wagon) and service can be provided from point to point
20. Consideration should be given to Introducing a system of spot booking & door pick up and door delivery system
21. Railways may consider introduction of road transportation as well, particularly, for short distances
22. The coaches could be redesigned to suit the specific needs of industries and to avoid pilferage, theft etc.
Goods Transport in Indian Railways – Root Causes
1. It is one of the cheapest mode of goods transportation in the country
2. The quantity of good transported every day is huge
3. Though transportation of goods by the Indian railways share the major portion its earnings, the goods trains are handled in a very negligent manner
4. The supervision over the on-ground staff is weak
5. The employees intentionally remove the rate charts
6. The employees work under the comfort of having a secure job
7. Staff lack training in soft skills, technology
8. Lower level staff looks for a chance to ask for bribes
9. Lack of dedicated freight corridors
10. Private freight operators pay bribes at various levels
11. The ways of goods transportation in railways are still archaic
12. Lack of inclination towards increasing the revenue through improvement in goods transportation service
13. There are not set processes in place
14. Employees themselves engage in malpractices to make money on the side
15. Customer satisfaction is not the top priority for the goods transport division
16. Goods trains run late as preference is given to passenger trains
17. Majority of the system still depends on manual labour
18. The RPF itself acts as a perpetrator
19. There is a nexus among some of the drivers/guards of the goods trains and the mafias to facilitate robbing of goods.
Goods Transport in Indian Railways – Key Issues
1. The staff is not cooperative
2. No correct rate chart to guide the customers
3. No proper tracking mechanism in terms of present status and delivery timelines
4. Speed of transportation is really slow
5. No clear demarcation in terms of classification of goods transported
6. No proper storage facility for goods before embarkation and disembarkation
7. No proper facilities for cold shipments - perishable goods
8. No point to point services for enhancing the connectivity for commodity products
9. 24x7 booking service not available
10. Many items are mishandled and broken by the porters
11. Goods are stolen many times
12. The staff does not confirm which train will be carrying the goods
13. There is no insurance for goods in transit by train
14. There is no system for recovery of lost goods
15. There is no compensation given for damaged good
16. Time of delivery is not communicated in advance. more
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Goods transportation by Railways is far more energy efficient than the Transportation by trucks. Hence, for using natural resources more efficiently, transportation by Railways shall be promoted as much as possible. Key areas that need improvements in goods transportation by the Railways are: 1. Create a R&D Division for goods transportation. This division will create and routinely upgrade algorithms for maximizing transportation by volume/weight/value etc for different types of goods, such as, heavy non-perishables, perishables, goods requiring refrigeration during transport and intermediate storage, fragile, etc. 2. Use the results of the analyses for performance improvements. 3. Use technology for booking, tracking, and intimations to all stakeholders. Make the system online 24x7 to make it user friendly. 4. Tie up with the insurance for online transit insurance of all types of goods at the lowest possible premiums. This will help bring down the cost of transportation and hence the price of goods in the market. 5. Create efficient mechanism with electronic surveillance to prevent theft and pilferage. 6. Any railway employee, contractor, or subcontractor or his representative found to be directly or indirectly involved in theft, pilferage, or wilful damage of goods shall be summarily punished and debarred for life. 7. It is desirable to separate goods transportation from passengers transportation by creating a separate entity within the Railways. more
Oct 29
Even with all the above draw backs railways crss subsidy the passenger traffic. the railways can think of the revenue that can be earned by attending all the said draw backs which I think the Railway minister is capable of doing. Let us give time for the new minister and the new regime. more
Oct 26
1.Conversion of Gauges(Railway track) to with stand to high speed 2.Conversion of Wagons to carry more weight. 3.Providing additional track where Traffic is more . 4.We find 2 Engines with maximum no of. wagons in some cases .But the time can be saved with minimum no of wagons with one engine where the loading time of the remaining wagons can be converted to travelling time .May need brain storming in this case. 5.Greater priority to maintain the schedules . 6. Possible providing cameras to wagons near the lock for each wagon arrest robbing . more
Oct 26
Short link lines connecting existing main lines must be constructed so that distance between coastal towns and interior manufacturing hubs are reduced. For example a connecting line of about 35 kilometers between Uthamarkoil (next to Srirangam) and Namakkal(on Karur--Salem line) can greatly reduce the distance between Trichy ( a boiler manufacturing Centre) and Mumbai. On Wed, Oct 21, 2015 at 9:26 AM, Ministry Of Railways < support@localcirclesmail.com> wrote: > more
Oct 26
Goods transportation brings in a good amount of revenue to the railways. 1.The goods carriages can be used for advertisments as they are also viewed on stations and in transit. 2.Try to have another track so that goods are not delayed and it does not effect passenger trains. 3.Change over of goods engine, driver can be made in minor stations so that the goods dont occupy time and a prime platform on the important stations. more
Oct 25
