Ministry of Railways Issues Guidelines for Establishing Exclusive Container Rail Terminals on IR Land.

The Ministry of Railways has announced new policy guidelines aimed at promoting container traffic by setting up exclusive container rail terminals on Indian Railways land. These terminals will be designed to streamline container handling and improve efficiency across the network.

Under the new guidelines, an access charge of Rs. 80,000 per train will be levied for various movements, including loaded in-empty out, empty in-loaded out, and loaded in-loaded out trains. Container storage charges at the terminals have been set at Rs 35 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) per day, with charges for forty-foot equivalent units (FEU) being double that amount.

The storage fees will begin once the container arrives at the terminal for outward movement or after the expiry of free time for unloading inward consignments. Additionally, if a container is not removed from the terminal within 12 days, the storage charges will double.

Notably, there will be no free time for stacking containers at these terminals, and wharfage or ground usage charges will not apply. The free time allowed for loading, unloading, stuffing, or destuffing containers on a container train will be a standard nine hours, irrespective of the activities performed on the rake. Existing detention or demurrage charges will continue to apply as per current policy guidelines.

Hub and spoke operations will also be permitted at these terminals, with a five-day period designated for hubbing operations. The policy also specifies that all other applicable charges for container traffic, including development surcharge and busy season charges, will be in accordance with the prevailing guidelines.

In addition to the new terminals, the Ministry has identified 23 potential locations across India for exclusive container rail terminals, including sites in Desur, Visakhapatnam, Chinchwad, Miraj, and several others. These terminals are intended to foster growth in domestic container traffic, though zones may open these terminals to other traffic types if deemed necessary, without compromising container handling capacity.

These initiatives are part of the government’s efforts to modernize the freight sector and boost the efficiency of India’s logistics network.

ET