Parliament Question: Data of Wagon Turnaround Time

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6179 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.04.2026 DATA OF WAGON TURNAROUND TIME 6179. SHRI G KUMAR NAIK: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the details of the data Wagon Turnaround Time (WTR) from 2014-15 to 2024-25 and the percentage of distance travelled empty by wagons during the said period and the measures taken/being taken to reduce empty running and improve asset utilisation, year-wise; (b) the average speed of goods trains during each of the last decade along with the distribution of trains across different speed ranges; (c) the details of Capital Output Ratio (COR) from 2014-15 to 2024-25 along with corresponding capital expenditure and traffic carried, year-wise (d) the number of railway projects that have experienced cost overrun and time overruns during the last decade along with the extent of such overruns and reasons therefor; (e) the details of the estimated financial impact of empty running and lower speeds on freight earnings; and (f) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to optimise route planning, reduce congestion and enhance operational efficiency? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (f) Indian Railway has taken several measures during the last few years to enhance the freight loading and revenue. Freight loading since 2014 is as below: Year Freight loading (in Million Tonnes) 2014-15 1,098 2015-16 1,104 § Page 1 of 10Year Freight loading (in Million Tonnes) 2016-17 1,109 2017-18 1,162 2018-19 1,223 2019-20 1,210 2020-21 1,233 2021-22 1,418 2022-23 1,512 2023-24 1,591 2024-25 1,617 1,700 1,617 1,600 1,591 1,500 1,418 1,512 1,400 1,300 1,210 1,162 1,200 1,233 1,104 1,223 1,100 1,098 1,109 1,000 Because of these measures, the freight loading has increased from 1,233 MT in 2020-21 to 1,617 MT in 2024-25. During 2024-25, IR transported 1,617 MT thus becoming second largest freight carrying Railways in the world. The measures taken include following: ● To increase the network capacity and improve wagon turn round, rail network expansion has been taken up in a big way by construction of new lines, multi tracking of existing lines, and gauge conversion of existing lines. The details of new tracks laid during the 10 years are as under: Page 2 of 10 51-4102 61-5102 71-6102 81-7102 91-8102 02-9102 12-0202 22-1202 32-2202 42-3202 52-4202 Freight loading (in Million Tonnes)Period New track commissioned 2009-14 7,599 Km 2014-25 34,428 Km Further as on 01.04.25, there are 431 (154 New Line, 33 Gauge Conversion and 244 Doubling) projects sanctioned. The summary of which is as under:- Total Length No. of Balance Category Length completed till Cost (Cr.) Projects length (Km) (Km) Mar’25 (Km) New lines 154 16,142 3,036 13,105 3,77,389 Gauge 33 4,180 2,997 1,183 43,820 conversion Doubling / Multi 244 15,644 6,736 8,909 2,53,711 tracking Total 431 35,966 12,769 23,197 6,74,920 Some of the Projects recently completed are as follows: Length SN Name of project (in Kms) Udhampur- Srinagar- Baramulla new line 272 1 2 Bhairabi - Sairang New Line 51 3 Deoband - Roorkee New Line 27 4 Churu - Ratangarh Doubling 43 5 Tori-Shivpur 3rd Line 44 6 Araria - Galgalia New Line 110 7 Himmatnagar - Khedbrahma Guage Conversion 55 8 Bahraich- Nanpara -Nepalganj Guage Conversion 56 Domingarh- Gorakhpur -Kusumi 3rd Line & Gorakhpur - 9 21 Nakaha Doubling Page 3 of 10Length SN Name of project (in Kms) 10 Vijapur - Ambaliyasan Guage Conversion 43 11 Pune- Miraj -Londa Doubling 467 12 Manmad - Jalgaon 3rd Line 160 13 Phephna –Indara- Mau -Shahganj Doubling 150 14 Adraj -Moti -Vijapur Guage Conversion 40 15 Katni -Bina 3rd Line 279 16 Gandhidham- Adipur Quadrupling 21 17 Khatuwas - Narnaul Doubling 24 18 Penukonda- Dharmavaram Doubling 42 Zone-wise/year-wise details of all Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website. Some of the major projects sanctioned are as follows: SN Project Name Cost (₹ in Crore) 1 Chopan – Chunar doubling (102 Km) 1,553 2 Guntur – Bibinagar doubling (239 Km) 3,238 3 Mudkhed – Medchal & Mahbubnagar – Dhone doubling 5,655 (418 Km) 4 Samakhiali – Gandhidham Quadrupling (53 Km) 1,571 5 Merta City – Ras & Bypass at Merta Road new line (56 1,038 Km) 6 Lumding – Furkating doubling (140 Km) 2,334 7 Ajmer – Chanderiya doubling (178 Km) 1,813 8 Motumari – Vishnupuram with RoR doubling (100 Km) 1,746 9 Bikramshila – Katareah new line with new bridge on 2,549 river ganga (26 Km) Page 4 of 10SN Project Name Cost (₹ in Crore) 10 Gunupur – Therubali new line (74 Km) 1,326 11 Malkangiri – Pandurangapuram new line (174 Km) 4,109 12 Badampahar – Kendujhargarh new line (82 Km) 2,106 13 Junagarh – Nabarangpur new line (116 Km) 3,274 14 Buramara – Chakulia new line (60 Km) 1,639 15 Ajanta Caves Rail Connectivity (174 Km) 7,105 16 Bangriposi – Gorumahisani new line (86 Km) 2,549 17 Chandil – Anara – Damodar 3rd line (121 Km) 2,170 18 Bargarh Road – Nawapara Road new line (138 Km) 2,926 19 Sardega – Bhalumuda new double line (37 Km) 1,360 20 Varanasi – Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Multitracking 2,642 with rail cum road bridge on river ganga (15 Km) 21 Jalgaon – Manmad 4th line (160 Km) 2,773 22 Bhusawal – Khandwa 3rd & 4th line (131 Km) 3,514 23 Sambalpur – Jarapada 3rd & 4th line (127 Km) 3,916 24 Jharsuguda – Sason 3rd & 4th line (35 Km) 1,181 25 Gondia – Ballarshah doubling (240 Km) 4,819 26 Kharsia – Naya Raipur – Parmalkasa 5th & 6th line 8,741 (278 Km) 27 Wardha – Balharshah Quadrupling (135 Km) 2,381 28 Ballari – Chikjajur doubling (185 Km) 3,342 29 Koderma – Barkakana doubling (133 Km) 3,063 30 Itarsi – Nagpur 4th line (297 Km) 5,451 31 Dangoaposi – Jaroli 3rd & 4th line (43 Km) 1,752 32 Secunderabad – Wadi 3rd & 4th line (173 Km) 5,012 33 Furkating – New Tinsukia doubling (194 Km) 3,634 Page 5 of 10SN Project Name Cost (₹ in Crore) 34 Bakhtiyarpur – Rajgir – Tilaiya doubling (104 Km) 2,192 35 Gondia – Dongargarh 4th line (84 Km) 2,223 36 Wardha – Bhusawal 3rd & 4th line (314 Km) 9,197 37 Hosapete – Bellary quadrupling (65 Km) 2,372 38 Kasara – Manmad 3rd & 4th line (131 Km) 10,154 39 Punarakh – Kiul 3rd & 4th line (50 Km) 2,668 40 Gamharia – Chandil 3rd & 4th line (55 Km) 1,168 41 Sainthia- Pakhur 4th Line (81 Km) 1,569 42 Santragachi- Kharagpur 4th line (111 Km) 2,905 43 Nergundi – Barang & Khurda Road – Vizianagaram 3rd 5,618 line (385 Km) 44 Son Nagar – Andal Multi tracking (375 Km) 13,606 45 Gorakhpur Cantt – Valmiki Nagar doubling (96 Km) 1,270 46 Jaipur – Sawai Madhopur doubling (131 Km) 1,269 47 Luni – Samdari – Bhildi doubling (272 Km) 3,531 48 Narkatiaganj – Raxaul – Sitamarhi – Darbhanga & 4,553 Sitamarhi – Muzaffarpur doubling (256 Km) 49 Prayagraj (Iradatganj) – Manikpur 3rd line (84 Km) 1,640 50 Tirupati – Pakala – Katpadi doubling (104 Km) 1,332 51 Ratlam – Nagda 3rd and 4th line (41 Km) 1,018 52 Aluabari Road – New Jalpaiguri 3rd & 4th line (57 Km) 1,786 53 Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) – Parbhani 2,179 (177 Km) 54 Bhagalpur – Dumka – Rampurhat doubling (177 Km) 3,169 55 Itarsi – Bina 4th line (237 Km) 4,329 56 Vadodara – Ratlam 3rd & 4th line (259 Km) 8,885 Page 6 of 10SN Project Name Cost (₹ in Crore) 57 Devbhumi Dwarka (Okha) – Kanalus doubling (141 Km) 1,457 58 Badlapur – Karjat 3rd and 4th line (32 Km) 1,324 59 Delhi – Ambala Cantt 3rd & 4th line (194 Km) 5,983 60 Gondia – Jabalpur doubling (231 Km) 5,236 61 Manmad – Indore new line (360 Km) 18,529 62 Errupelam – Amaravati – Nambur new line (57 Km) 2,245 63 Vadhavan Port and New Palghar station new double 1,507 line (22 Km) 64 Deshalpar – Hajipir – Luna and Vayor – Lakhpat new 2,526 line (145 Km) Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include the following:  Land acquisition  Forest clearance  Shifting of infringing utilities  Statutory clearances from various authorities  Geological and topographical conditions of area  Law and order situation in the area of project site  Number of working months in a year for particular project site etc. Various steps taken by the Government for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects include:  Substantial increase in allocation of funds.  Delegation of powers at field level.  Close monitoring of progress of project at various levels.  Regular follow up with State Governments and concerned authorities for expeditious land acquisition, forestry and Wildlife clearances and for resolving other issues pertaining to projects. Page 7 of 10● Procurement of Wagons and Locomotives: To increase freight carrying capacity, large numbers of IR wagons have been procured and locomotives have been manufactured. During 2014 to 2025, about 2 lakh wagons have been procured and more than 10,000 locomotives have been added for increasing freight loading and mobility. ● Removing bottlenecks in operations by yard remodeling, construction of bypass/chord lines, rail flyovers etc. ● The construction of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) from Ludhiana to Sonnagar (1337 Km) and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT) to Dadri (1506 Km) has been taken up. Out of total 2843 kms, 2741 route kms (96.4%) has been commissioned and operational. ● Indian Railways has taken up electrification of Railway lines in a mission mode. So far, about 99.4% of Broad Gauge (BG) network has been electrified. A comparison of electrification before and after 2014 is as follows: Period Route Kilometre Before 2014 21,801 2014-26 (upto Feb 26) 47,966 ● Industry participation in investment in General Purpose Wagons, Special Purpose/High- Capacity wagons and Automobile carrier wagons for cement, oil, steel, fly-ash, automobile etc. By the FY 2024-25, around 240 rakes of special purpose wagons, 374 rakes of general-purpose wagons and 48 rakes of automobile wagons have been inducted. ● Under the 'Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT)' policy so far, 128 new GCTs have been commissioned, with an estimated traffic capacity of 198 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). In addition, for improvement of freight and parcel terminals from the financial year 2023-24 onwards, an amount of ₹14,500 crore has been allocated. Page 8 of 10● A “Bulk Cement Terminal Policy” for setting up terminals on Railway land has been launched recently as part of Railway reforms for facilitating Bulk Cement transportation. ● Ensuring increased availability of rakes/wagons against demand. ● Increasing the loadability for carrying additional traffic per wagon. Length of freight trains has also been increased to increase throughput per train. ● Use of Information Technology in freight operations to improve monitoring and utilization of assets. ● Induction of higher horsepower locomotives. ● Improvement in maintenance practices of wagons and locomotives resulting in increased availability of loco and rolling stock for traffic use. ● Improvement in track and signaling standards to carry higher volume of traffic. ● Training of staff and officers to adopt the new technology and management practices. Further, Indian Railway has taken various steps to promote the improvement of freight segment through freight rationalization, adoption of various freight incentive schemes for transportation of bulk and small cargo & various concession and services. Some of them are as under: ● Introduction of Gross Tonne Kilometer based haulage rate for Bulk Cement in Tank Containers, ● Cargo Aggregator Transportation Product to promote Fast- Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), White Goods, Electronics, Automotive Components, etc., ● Liberalised Automatic Freight Rebate Scheme in Traditional Empty Flow Directions, ● Concession on Short lead traffic, ● Discount in freight to Fly Ash /Bed Ash traffic booked in Open/flat Stock & covered wagons, Page 9 of 10● Rationalisation of Haulage rate of Automobile traffic, ● Promotion of Bamboo Traffic in North Eastern Region by granting exemption from levy of Busy Season Charge (BSC). ● To enhance the capacity of the automobile stock, various new wagons have been introduced such as ACT 1, ACT 2, ACT 3, NMGHS, etc. ● Discount on empty haulage of containers transporting Chemical Gypsum and Tiles traffic, ● Classification of new commodities such as Potassium Sulphate, Ammonium Bicarbonate Food Grade, RUF Pitch, Liquefied Isobutylene, Liquefied Ethane, etc. The freight train movement is continuously monitored through the Freight Operations Information System (FOIS). To reduce empty runs and enhance wagon productivity, following measures have been taken: ● Traditional Empty Flow Direction (TEFD) Policy: Providing freight discounts (up to 15–20%) to customers for loading traffic in the empty flow direction. ● Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals (GCT): Fast-tracking the development of terminals to reduce detention times at loading/unloading points. ● Stationary Asset Optimization: Deployment of high-speed freight locomotives and the commissioning of Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) to segregate freight and passenger traffic. ● Dynamic Pricing: Implementation of various incentive schemes for "Round Trip" loading to encourage back-haul traffic. ***** Page 10 of 10