Railways want to protect dominance in cargo sector: Suresh Prabhu

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Saturday said the railways would soon launch a logistics facility for integrated cargo movement to protect its dominant share in the cargo-movement services.

Prabhu, who inaugurated a parcel management system at the Mumbai Central railway station here, said a two-third of the revenue of railways comes from cargo, and it subsidises passenger traffic fares.

However, the Railways department is facing a serious competition nowadays from road transport with rapid expansion of the road network, he said.

“Investment in road network is three times more than railways. Railway investment is .47 per cent of GDP while in roads it is three times more. However, unlike railways, road traffic is pollution generating,” he said.

“The consumer does not care whether his cargo goes by air, road, water or railways. He only wants to ensure it reaches expeditiously and safely. So we are providing an integrated solution for the same. Railways wants to arrest the trend of losing out on cargo movement (to road cargo transporters),” he said.