Automobile firms based in the city have expressed concern that the rail auto hub set up at Walajabad, near Kancheepuram, has not lived up to their expectations. Car-makers and third party service providers (who take the cars to hub) said a lot more can be done.
According to officials from automobile firms, there are several challenges which deter the use of the Walajabad facility. Owing to the presence of only a single track, it is not possible to split the rakes to enable faster loading, unlike in Tiruvallur (another place from where cars are sent through rail), where two tracks facilitate the same. “Rakes can be split into groups of 12 and 13 wagons for quick loading,” said the logistics head of a car firm.
He also pointed out that stacking permission for cars has not been given at the railway yard to tide over the time gap between the despatch of cars and the actual loading which happens a few days later. “As per rules, if permission is not given, charges for demorrage/wharfage will be applicable. As of now, ad-hoc permissions are being given but this will cascade into a serious issue if not formalised. A clear-cut policy on the number of days for free storage has not been spelt out by the Railways,” he said.
Major concern
Another major concern is of railway receipts not being issued from Walajabad. Service providers have to travel 20-25 km to Arakonam to collect the same. The cost too works out higher at Walajabad when compared to the Tiruvallur goods shed. Sending a New Modified Goods (NMG) rake to Ahmedabad will cost ₹50,000 more while for Guwahati, the cost is around ₹25,000 more.
V. Anand, senior general manager, sales logistics, sales and marketing division, Hyundai Motor India Limited, said,“We dispatch about 2,500 cars per month by rail through Tiruvallur and Melpakkam (near Arakonam). Since the Walajabad station has became operational, we have been able to ship just 608 cars including a consignment which was completed on December 21.”
Mr. Anand said there were minor issues at the hub but on the positive side, export car movement could be carried out on a 24-hour basis to the Chennai port whereas night movement by road was restricted between 11 p.m. and 5 am. “The Railways has entered into a memorandum with both the Chennai and Kamarajar ports for use of this auto hub to move export cars into both ports and if this materialises, it will be an added advantage for car makers,” he added.
When contacted, a senior Railways official said there were several plans on the anvil for the hub. “The number of rakes now is clearly inadequate. There are plans to double the number of rakes,” he said.
The official also said similar hubs will be built in other locations in the country and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has given a list of such potential locations. “We are also evaluating a model to send two-wheelers from this hub,” he said.
Spread over 5,000 sq.m., the hub is located very close to Oragadam, the automobile cluster which houses firms such as Hyundai, Ford and Nissan. The project was announced in the Railway budget in 2016.
