In a first, trucks with auto parts take train from Haryana to Gujarat

Three trucks loaded with Maruti auto parts, initially stocked up in Gurgaon and Manesar factories, were taken on wagons from New Rewari to Gujarat’s Palanpur in 12 hours. Once there, the trucks will roll down the train and deliver the parts to the automaker’s factory in Mehsana, around an hour away.

By road, this 700km journey would typically take a day.

The Rewari station has capacity to send such trains every three hours and around 250 trucks in a day, officials of Dedicated Freight Corridor Company India Limited (DFCCIL), which introduced the service, said on Thursday.

Eventually, this capacity will be increased to 1,000 trucks a day, they added.

The ‘truck on train’ concept, also known as roll-on, roll-off (RO-RO), aims to reduce carbon footprint by shifting transportation from roads to railways. The method was backed by Union railway minister Ashwani Vaishnav, who has said in the past that this service will help create green logistics ecosystems across the country.

In this method, trucks with or without goods are loaded onto wagons through a ramp. Before loading, trucks are weighed and passed under a height gauge to ensure they conform with all the rules.

Thursday’s rollout was initiated by logistics company Vinsum Axpress and it was the first time that auto components were sent through this service in the country.

“Apart from ecological advantages, this truck on train method promotes easy to handle goods on several transit points while also reducing transit time, damage and road congestion. More importantly, it addresses the shortage of fleet drivers due to high workload besides prolonging a road vehicle’s life, in line with best global practices,” said Vinod Sharma, CMD of Vinsum Axpress.

SD Chhabra, executive officer at Maruti Suzuki, said the automaker has taken up the policy of greener transportation.

“Maruti has started transporting almost 20% of its car fleet through railways. We intend to increase it further while embarking on parts movement now,” he said.

With trucks being the most used mode of transport to ferry goods across India, they are responsible for almost 40% of carbon emissions and air pollution in urban areas, a study by The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) found in a report published in Aug 2022.

A DFCC official said that though the truck on train service is a new segment of transportation, there is significant demand for it by the private sector. “That’s because a truck operator saves money on three counts through this mode – cost of fuel, highway toll tax, and wear and tear of the vehicle,” the official said, adding that it also eases last-mile connectivity problems.

DFCC’s RoRo service is the first on the western freight corridor. RoRo was introduced on the Konkan Railways in 1999, and it is still operational. In 2016, the Southwestern Railways adopted it on its Bengaluru-Solapur route, but the service was halted after a few trips.