RORO from Konkan Railway-Truck on Rail

RORO stands for Roll On, Roll OFF. It is a brilliant concept executed by Konkan Railway. I had heard about this earlier but hadn’t seen in person. This week I got to see them in action. This post shares few pics of this unique idea and the benefits and need for introducing such system everywhere else in India.

While transportation of cargo (freight) by train is fast and cheap, at times it is not convenient. Cargo needs to be loaded on truck, taken to railway yard, unload and load to a cargo container and repeat the process at destination to take the goods to final destination. Loading & unloading is done using manual labour and takes several hours per truck, which is time consuming and costs money.
Another option was to load it on the truck at origin (say a factory in Mangaluru), drive the truck to destination city (Say Mumbai) and drive it to final destination of the consignee (party who wanted the goods). Driving a truck long distance is a costly affair- lots of money is to be spent on diesels, tyres wear out due to bad roads, other vehicle parts may break down or need replacement faster, drivers face fatigue driving continuously and face risk of accidents. Add to this huge tolls that need to be paid and other permit fees.

So why not marry truck+Train system and extract the best of both worlds? Instead of unloading cargo from truck on to train, simply keep the entire truck on the railway carriage. At the destination, truck can be driven off the train and driven straight to final destination. That is RORO for you. Roll ON, be taken to destination city on train, then roll off, drive on.

Advantages of RORO:

• Of Course Railways will charge a fee for this service. But as long as that fee is less than cost of fuel+toll otherwise incurred in driving all the way, it is a win-win deal for both railways and truck owners.
• Drivers can simply relax as their truck moves on the train. No fatigue
• No wear and tear of truck parts- reduced maintenance expenses
• No time lost in loading/unloading
• Full savings on fuel, toll fee, inter-state permit fee and other daylight robbery usually done on the roads.

Cost of RORO- from what I read, moving a truck (up to 15 MT) between Mangalore (Suratkal) and Kolad (150 kms from Mumbai) costs about Rs 8000. Which is very competitive. (Rs 10 per km approx- a truck usually moves 3km per litre of diesel, which is Rs 50 per litre or Rs 16 per km), so RORO is outright economical. All other savings like toll etc extra.

As far as I can see RORO is a rocking success. Indian Railways need to adapt this idea everywhere else and should open it up for passenger vehicles as well. It will take load off the road network, reduce accidents.
For example, if RORO is introduced between Bengaluru n Chennai, one can book a slot on the train, drive their car on to the railway compartment, sleep in the car, get up fresh after about 5 hours, roll off the carriage someone on the outskirts of Bengaluru and reach their destination.
-    Reduces congestion on the road
-    At present toll companies have monopoly and are increasing toll at will every now and then. If vehicle owners have an alternative option (RORO) then it will increase competition and will keep toll rates in check.
-    For a petrol hatch, going to Bangalore by road means about Rs 1300 worth petrol (assuming fuel economy of 18-20kmpl) plus Rs 400 in toll (one way). Driver fatigue, wear n tear etc extra. If railways can charge less than Rs 1500 then it is great deal for vehicle owners.
-    Safety will be a concern if opened to passenger vehicles- people may risk their lives trying to take selfie or leaning over the edge of carriage etc. So carriages will need proper boundary or there should be some sleeper coaches in which passengers of vehicles can sleep.

What do you think?

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