The country’s first rail auto hub being developed in Walajabad would flag off its first rake, which has the capacity to carry 125 cars, by the middle of this month, according to Southern Railway general manager Vashista Johri.
The hub was inaugurated by Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu from New Delhi through video conferencing. Top railway officials were present at the Walajabad railway station, which is located near Kancheepuram district.
Interestingly, the launch of the auto hub may sound the death knell of the facility in Thiruvallur, which is being used by Hyundai to transport its cars to Changasari in Assam. But car majors are cautious in welcoming the move by Indian Railways. V Anand, senior general manager sales logistics, Hyundai, told Express that they need to evaluate the hub from the commercial point of view. While the hub would be useful in transporting cars to Ennore Port, which usually takes nearly 36 hours by road from the manufacturing facility, Anand feels that the cost factor still favours the road sector.
According to the railways, to move one load of six cars from the factory to the port by road, it takes 36 hours. But 300 cars can be moved to Chennai Port and Ennore Port in 2-3 hours from this facility.
However, Anand points out that the rail freight is too costly than road freight. Only if the distance is above 2,000km, rail freight service is affordable, he says. Interestingly, Hyundai, which produces 18,000 cars per annum, is using the rail to transport only four per cent of its cars and most of it is from the Melapakkam facility sector.
Aware of its limitations in NMG rakes, Indian Railways is planning to partner with APL VASCOR – a logistics specialist – which uses double decker wagons to transport the cars. One rake transports a total of 318 cars.
While the hub is being planned to cater to one million units of four-wheelers being produced per annum, the land looks inadequate and has to be developed to cater to huge containers carrying cars from the manufacturing plant. Johri is optimistic. “It is just a pilot-project. We will evaluate the first phase,” he says.
Interestingly, the initial holding capacity is for 300 cars and it is likely to be expanded to 800-1,000 cars during the second phase. Johri says that of the one million units being produced in Kancheepuram district, 3.6 lakh is being exported while the rest 6.4 lakh is transported to domestic market.
source: http://www.newindianexpresss.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by C. Shivakumar / March 02nd, 2016