The cars were transported from Walajabad in Tamil Nady to Farukhnagar in Haryana – A distance of over 2,200 kms
Transport of cars from manufacturing plants to various destinations is one that has to be executed precisely, and in a timely manner. While logistics is continually improving through tried and tested processes, the use of railways to transport passenger cars is a fairly new development, as compared to traditional trailers.
Bogie Covered Autorake Double Decker Wagon (BCACBM)
Chennai division of Southern Railway has now started operating a ‘Bogie Covered Autorake Double Decker Wagon (BCACBM)’. This is designed to offer logistics services to the automobile industry. The first rake service in the region commenced from Walajabad onward to Farukhnagar in Haryana.
This maiden trip is the first rake of track 1 logistics and set out earlier this week. The transport was flagged off with 282 cars from Renault Nissan alliance, located in Chennai. A BCACBM wagon can carry 10 -12 cars, and one rake consists of 27 such wagons. To begin operations, at first, 3 rakes will be loaded from Walajabad each month.
Chennai division has set up a Business Development Unit (BDU). The department is tasked with strengthening customer base a, building business, and giving the freight business a shot in the arm. As, Business Development Units continue to offer dynamic logistic solutions, the maiden rake is raked in the moolah. The transport of 282 cars brought in Rs 30 lakh in revenue. That’s at a cost of above 10.5k per vehicle.
Chennai Division has joined hands with track 1 logistics to extend business areas. Track 1 Logistics has tied up with Oriental carriers known for multi-modal auto logistics and freight management.
Ministry of Railways formulated policy for Automobile freight Train Operator (AFTO) scheme in 2010. This was designed to attract private investment in high capacity automobile carriers. The policy permits private parties to benefit from rail transport to market products to end users using railway services. The policy facilitates huge volume movement of automobile traffic by rail from production hubs to consumption centres. Logistic service providers can induct special wagon on railways and operate these wagons on the rail network.
BCACBM rakes
When rail transport for cars was introduced, New Modified Goods (NMG) single deck wagons with a capacity of 125 cars was used. Indian Railways’ design arm, Research Design and Standard’s Organization (RDSO) designed BCACM double decker rakes at an increased capacity of 265 cars. This resulted in 100 percent increase in carrying capacity. The use of a fixed middle deck meant the BCACM design rakes had limitations.
RDSO then developed an Auto-wagon called BCACBM. BCACBM rakes were more flexible to accommodate all models, and transport capacity increased 20 percent from 265 cars to 318 cars. BCACBM rakes are designed to be operated at 95 km/hr speed limit, which makes it the fastest goods train in India, and thereby time saving.
While such transportation is still not fully utilised, Maruti Suzuki has been using such a service to full potential. Between March 2014 and July 2020, MSIL transported upward of 6.7 lakh cars through Indian Railways at 18 percent CAGR. Maruti Suzuki operates out of 5 loading terminals (Gurgaon, Farukhnagar, Kathuwas, Patli and Detroj), and 13 destination terminals (Bangalore, Nagpur, Mumbai, Guwahati, Mundra Port, Indore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, NCR, Siliguri and Agartala).
