Indian Railways to roll out double-decker trains

The Indian Railways is planning to roll out the double-decker trains enabled to transport cargo as well as passengers.The first two trains comprising 20 coaches are to be manufactured at an approximate cost of Rs 160 crore at a rail coach factory. The trains will be rolled out based on the concept of Cargo-liners. It is a regularly scheduled service traveling on a fixed route in their designated points while carrying several consignments of various commodities. The middle and upper decks of the train coaches will be having the seating space for the accommodation of 72 passengers, maximum and the lower deck is capable of being used for the transportation of goods up to 4 or 5 tonne. A service like this to give a big boost for the acceleration of the process of the timetable parcel service, that has emerged to be a new area of business for the Indian railways post the Covid-19 impact on the operations of passenger trains in the country. For the past couple of years, the Ministry of Indian Railways has given more focus on freight movement, being the main source of their revenue.The ministry has set a target for the highest ever freight loading in the year 2022-23 for 1,475 million tonne. The target is 5% greater in comparison with the current fiscal year.The above is expected to generate approximately Rs 1.65 lakh crore, which is around 14% greater than the income from the freight loading in the current financial year ending in March 2022. The railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said furthermore an additional one million tonne of cargo loading is capable of generating a minimum revenue of Rs 80 crore and therefore earnings from the freight loading segment are important for the finances of the railways. Image Source Also read: Govt develops National Rail Plan-2030 to make railways future-ready