Online booking to be mandatory for goods transport via rail

In line with its attempts to digitise its records, the Railway Ministry has made online registration mandatory for transportation of goods on Indian Railways. The new guidelines will come into effect from November 1. According to a notification issued by the ministry this week, the move has been undertaken “with the objective to achieve digitalisation, minimising detention to rolling stock and streamlining transactions in freight business”. The new guidelines will apply to all indents placed with zonal railways, with the exception of military traffic, goods transported during natural disasters, and events identified as force majeure by authorities. The new policy will replace the current practice of approaching goods clerks to register demand for wagons, and necessary changes in the digital infrastructure will be undertaken by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) and Freight Operations Information Systems (FOIS). “Necessary modifications shall be introduced into the system by CRIS/FOIS to enable e-RD (registration of demand) as default option for registration of demand for wagons,” the notification said. An official said that loading of rakes in high-demand areas gets delayed due to the need for physical registration and verification at the time of booking and loading. These processes, once brought online, can contribute to the national transporters’ attempts to decrease wagon turnaround time. Under the 'Hungry for Cargo' mission, Indian Railways is targeting 2,000 million tonnes of goods by 2024. See also: Indian Railways to float tender for high speed mobilityRailways prioritizes early completion of Railway Track projects