Freight Operations – Indian Railways

1. Definition & Core Objective

Freight Operation is the commercial movement of goods (not passengers) by rail for reward.
Core objectives:

• Provide cost-effective, energy-efficient, bulk logistics backbone to the nation
• Generate the “internal surplus” that cross-subsidises passenger services (every ₹ 1 loss on passenger ≈ ₹ 0.65 profit on freight)

2. Technical Information

2.1 Freight Stock

2.2 Freight Train Classification (Operating Manual 2023)

• Goods (Full): End-to-end rake, booked & billed as single unit
• Mini Goods: 21–40 wagons, run on priority path
• Conventional: < 21 wagons, attached to any passing goods train
• Roll-on-Roll-off (RO-RO): Loaded road trucks moved on flat wagons
• Meri Saheli & other time-tabled parcel: ≤ 110 km/h

2.3 Permissible Axle-Load Evolution

• 1957: 20.3 t (BG)
• 1967: 22.9 t (HS wagons)
• 2002: 25 t (CASNUB-22 HS)
• 2018: 30 t trials – DFC & selected IR routes
• 2022: 25 t allowed on ~2,500 km of “Heavy Haul” routes (Jharsuguda–Barbil, Kirandul–Vizag, etc.)

2.4 Braking

• Air-Brake: Twin-pipe graduated release (GR) 5 kg/cm²; adopted since 1988-89; 100 % fleet now air-braked.
• Dynamic/Regenerative: 5,500 HP WAG-9 & 9H, 6,000 HP WAG-12 supply 28-30 % of braking effort.

2.5 Couplers & Loading Density

• CBC (centre-buffer-coupler) + slack-less draw-gear → permitted 8.25 t/m linear load → 6,000 t trailing behind single WAG-9.
• CC+8: Conventional load 5,000 t; CC+9 (5,400 t) on DFC & identified routes (2022).

3. Important Facts & Figures (2023-24)

4. Historical Milestones

• 1854: First goods train (Roorkee–Piran Kaliyar) – 2 wagons of clay.
• 1956: Introduction of 4-wheeler “B” class wagons (12.2 t axle).
• 1967: HS (Heavy-Scale) 22.9 t axle freight bogie designed by RDSO.
• 1982: BOXN – India’s first high-sided 8-wheeler air-brake wagon.
• 1987: Freight marketing separated from Operations – zonal “Chief Commercial Manager (Freight Service)” created.
• 1992: Rake-Exchange system – wagons move without re-loading at junctions.
• 2001: FOIS (Freight Operations Information System) goes live.
• 2006: First 6,000 t “CC+6” rake hauled by three WAG-7.
• 2011: Entry-Load policy (additional 4 t per wagon) on selected routes.
• 2015: Roll-out of 25 t axle-load BOXNHL.
• 2017: First trial of 10,000 t ‘Anaconda’ train (Kirandul–Vizag).
• 2020: Start of Eastern & Western Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC).
• 2021: “Mission Raftaar” – target to raise average freight speed to 50 km/h by 2030.
• 2023: Gati Shakti multi-modal terminals (30 planned, 12 commissioned).

5. Current Status & Recent Updates (2024)

1. Railway Board re-organised – Member (Infrastructure) renamed Member (T&F) “Track & Freight”.
2. “Hungry for Cargo” campaign – 24×7 freight helpline 139-F, one-stop website freight.indianrailways.gov.in.
3. Rationalised freight rebate (Feb 2024):
   • 15 % discount for incremental traffic beyond FY-23 base
   • 30 % discount for empty flow direction (back-haul)
4. Automatic Freight Rebate System (AFRS) – AI-based distance & commodity linked rebate, no manual sanction.
5. Roll-on-Roll-off (RO-RO) service resumed on Konkan Railway after COVID; now 7 days/week.
6. Western DFC (1,504 km) fully commissioned except 40 km Son-Nagar patch; Eastern DFC (1,337 km) Dadri–Dankuni open.
7. Sidhi-Singrauli & Kirandul-Jagdalur sections upgraded to 25 t axle in Mar 2024.
8. Wagon procurement plan 2024-27: 90,000 wagons (₹ 33,000 cr) – 60 % high-capacity (BCNHL, BOXNHL, BOST).
9. KAVACH ATP being extended to 3,000 Rkm of DFC route for 100 km/h operation.
10. Gati Shakti Cargo App – QR/OTP based gate-entry, real-time rake tracking, piloted at 35 goods sheds.

6. Quick-Recall Points for Exams

• FOIS modules: Management of Rake Inventory (MRI), Terminal Management System (TMS), Control Office Management (COMS), WIS (Wagon Information System).
• Freight terminals: 2,750 goods sheds + 245 private sidings + 55 freight terminals + 30 multimodal logistics parks (under Gati Shakti).
• Freight marketing executives (FMEs): 680 posted in 67 divisions to tap road-to-rail traffic.
• Lead to conversion formula: NTKM = Tonnes loaded × Lead (km).
• Operating ratio 2022-23: 98.14 (every ₹ 100 earnings, ₹ 98.14 spent).
• Rail vs Road cost: IR average 94 p/tonne-km; road 2.0–2.4 ₹/tonne-km for > 500 km lead.
• Energy efficiency: 1 litre of diesel moves 83 tonne-km by rail, 27 tonne-km by 3-axle truck.
• World’s heaviest freight train: 3,000 m length, 10,000 t, 3×WAG-9 on Kirandul-Visakhapatnam section (trial).

7. Practice MCQs

Remember: Freight is the “bread-earner” of Indian Railways; every major infrastructure upgrade (DFC, heavy-haul, 25 t axle, upgraded wagons) is aimed at cutting cost, raising speed and winning traffic back from road.