Konkan Railway may run Ro-Ro train service to ferry cars if adequate demand: Official

Mumbai: The Konkan Railway will explore the possibility of running a special roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) train service for transporting cars during the upcoming Ganapti festival, if there is sufficient public demand, a top official said.

It will be possible to operate such a service if there are at least 40 cars to be transported at a time, Konkan Railway Corporation Limited's Chairman and Managing Director Santosh Kumar Jha told reporters at the KRCL headquarters at Belapur in Navi Mumbai on Tuesday.

Asked why the KR does not transport passenger cars by its pioneering Ro-Ro services during the Ganpati festival, Jha said they will have to make changes for ferrying cars on wagons.

The Konkan Railway's Ro-Ro service, which allows vehicles to be transported along with their drivers, has traditionally been used for trucks.

"I promise you that this time in Ganpati I will announce a special train (Ro-Ro)," Jha said.

The official said he did not know people would want to transport their expensive cars 750 km away.

It takes 24 to 26 hours to reach Mangaluru (in Karnataka) by Ro-Ro from here and for that one has to buy a second class ticket from the driver.

Highlighting that KR is not a loss-making corporation, Jha said it generated a net profit of Rs 301 crore in 2023-24. As per unpublished reports, the corporation is expected to register a profit of Rs 140-150 crore in the last financial year.

"The Konkan Railway was always in profit, barring two years of COVID-19," Jha said, adding the KR is generating profits from the operations and execution of projects.

The corporation got projects valued at Rs 3,150 crore through tendering processes in the last 15 months and is already executing works of Rs 4,087 crore, the official said.

"About Rs 7,200 crore of work orders are already in my hand and this year, we have targeted to get Rs 15,000 crore of orders. I have full faith that we will achieve this target," Jha said.

The KR has planned to spend Rs 125 crore for various passengers amenities, including platform extension, construction of FOBs (foot overbridges) and providing retiring rooms, at railway stations in the next three years, he said.

The Public Works Department of Maharashtra has spent Rs 99 crore for the development of 11 stations on the KR network. Now, the MIDC is spending Rs 39 crore on Ratnagiri station alone for providing facilities, he said.

"You will see a full facelift of the Ratnagiri station before this year-end," the official said.

Also, the KR has sent a proposal to the Railway Board for the restoration of eight halts which were discontinued during the COVID-19 time, he said.

The official further said the entire Konkan Railway route is currently single line, except for a 47-km-long section, and they have proposed patch doubling works, estimated to cost Rs 5,100 crores, but these works need ministerial help.

At present, the Konkan Railway has about Rs 2,750 crore loan to repay and the corporation has planned to clear Rs 600 crore dues of it during this financial year, he said.

Jha also said they have proposed alternatives for Pernem and Old Goa tunnel construction and the work has received an in-principle approval, but function allocation is awaited.

The tunnels are not unstable, he added.