Indian Railways plans to exempt containerised export traffic from mandatory 100% weighment and to introduce shorter container rakes, as part of a package aimed at winning export cargo1. The Economic Times reported the plans on 25 October, citing two senior railway officials it did not name1.
The report set out four measures at different stages1. They are a weighment waiver, mini rakes of at least 25 wagons, private maintenance of flatbed container wagons, and more hub and spoke terminals with telescopic tariffs1. Three were described as planned. Private wagon maintenance is still under consideration1.
What exporters would stop doing
Under the plan, the railway would stop weighing every container in export traffic. Random checks would cover 5% of rakes, and operators would instead submit a copy of the Verified Gross Mass, as required by Directorate General of Shipping guidelines1. The report said the relief would apply to certain commodities, without naming them1.
The report framed the waiver around export traffic. It did not say whether domestic container movement would also be exempt1.
Containers are weighed at depots before the rail journey and at ports after it, according to the report. The railway's weighment is an added compliance on top of those two1. The report gave no estimate of the time or cost that exporters would save1.
Mini rakes and the 750-rake fleet
Indian Railways runs about 750 container rakes, each of 45 wagons1. It plans to add mini container rakes of at least 25 wagons1. One official said the aim is to encourage higher-value commodities to move in containers1.
Container wagons are flatbeds on which boxes are secured, and a rake is a full train formation1. A 25-wagon train carries fewer boxes than a 45-wagon one, so a smaller consignment can fill a train. The report did not say whether mini rakes would get a separate tariff class1.
That matters for exporters of high-value goods who ship in modest volumes and cannot fill a standard formation. The officials did not name the commodities they want to attract1.
Wagon maintenance is not approved
The railway is "actively considering" proposals to let the private sector maintain the flatbed wagons used for containers, according to the report1. Manufacturers and container freight train operators have made representations, and discussions are under way on the financial terms1.
By industry estimates cited in the report, about 20% of all wagons are always in maintenance depots1. Indian Railways charges around 5% of the total freight tariff value for maintaining container wagons1. Operators want a discount on freight value if they take over the upkeep, and say they can return wagons to service faster1.
No decision on those terms has been reported, so the measure remains a proposal for now1.
Hub pricing and the freight base
Railways also plans to increase the number of routes with hub and spoke terminals1. Operators could consolidate containers from several locations and keep the charges that apply to long-distance cargo1. Without that benefit, boxes re-booked at a hub pay higher short-distance rates1.
The base the railway is working from is large. Indian Railways ran an average of 11,724 freight trains a day and carried 1588.06 million tonnes of freight in 2023-242. It had 327,991 freight wagons as of March 20242.
Container services are run by the state-owned Container Corporation of India, which took over seven inland container depots from Indian Railways when it began operations in 1989, and by private train operators3, 1. The Railway Board governs Indian Railways on behalf of the Ministry of Railways2, 4.
What is not settled
The report cited no Railway Board circular, rate notification or effective date1. The commodity list for the weighment waiver, the random-check procedure and any rate change for mini rakes are still to be published1.
The report also did not carry comment from the Container Corporation of India or from any association of container train operators1. Exporters moving boxes to ports by rail will need the formal order before they can plan around the changes1.
For now, the package is a set of intentions from officials, not a notified set of rules1.