Rlys lays new tracks to ride wagons to bank

NEW DELHI: Money is on top of mind at Rail Bhavan. Auction of wagons, setting up of transport exchange to monitor freight movement, integration of over 50 railway web sites, better rolling stock management and crew management are among the measures being discussed inside-out by the officials.

In order to maximise revenue from freight services, the Railways plans to auction wagons at much lower price on return journeys. The Railways would soon conduct a survey to identify sectors where the wagons are running below capacity, a Rail Bhavan official said.

The ministry is also contemplating fixing a floor price for wagons. Despite announcing several discounts, the wagons have not been able to reap profits for the Railways.

“Railways don’t want to idle a single wagon. We would set the floor price for the empty wagons, which would initially be kept low. The companies can then participate in the auction. The bids are expected to be more than the auction price. In future, the bid values could be scaled up,” the official said.

For facilitating the wagon auction scheme, the Railways would also set up a transport exchange, in which a special team would track all freight movements in the country.