South Western Railway’s double-stack dwarf container trains

BENGALURU : The South Western Railway’s (SWR) Bengaluru division is considering the operation of double-stack dwarf container (DSDC) trains, a first for the region. To facilitate this change, SWR has initiated the process of reconstructing several Railway Over Bridges (ROBs) and has issued a tender for the preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) at a cost of Rs 93 lakhs.

The DPR aims to assess the feasibility of running DSDC trains on SWR tracks and to determine the reconstruction requirements for ROBs to accommodate the necessary vertical clearance. Typically, DSDC trains require a vertical clearance of 4877 mm, whereas existing ROBs provide only 4000mm clearance.
The introduction of DSDC trains is expected to significantly enhance SWR’s freight capacity, potentially increasing it by 300 Metric tonnes per rake of DSDC. The first DSDC train was introduced by a private container train operator from Reliance Rail Terminal, Kanalus (PRTK) to Kribhco Infrastructure Limited, Pali (KIIP) in 2018.

A senior SWR official stated, “We are in the process of eliminating level crossings and replacing them with ROBs/RUBs. At 26 locations, we plan to eliminate LCs entirely, with 19 new ROBs and 7 reconstructed to accommodate DSDC trains. We are currently considering operating up to two pairs of trains connecting Mangalore and Mumbai Port, with four container depots in Bengaluru located at Whitefield, Hosur, Mallur, and Devanguddi.”

In pursuit of the national goal of transporting 6 million tonnes of freight daily, Karnataka has achieved an annual freight volume of 2.2 million tonnes in the last year.

SWR has set a target of 2.4 million tonnes for the current year. Despite the challenges, Indian Railways’ freight business has been on the rise. On March 15, 2024, IR surpassed a single-day freight loading capacity of 1500 MT, exceeding the previous record of 1512 MT in 2022-2023. SWR reported a freight loading of 45.32 MT until February 2024, marking an 8.60 per cent increase from the previous year’s 41.73 MT.
SWR’s services have become a preferred transportation option for automobile manufacturers, facilitating the shipment of various commodities including iron ore, cement, steel, minerals, oil, fertiliser, RMSP, coal, food grains, and containers.