Soon, travel from Mumbai to Goa in your car on a train

Konkan Railway’s novel experiment with ‘Roll-on Roll-off’ (Ro-Ro) of trucks over wagons has been a resounding success. Representational Pic/File

The Konkan Railway is planning to explore ferrying passenger vehicles, like cars and SUVs, on board train wagons for those wanting to take their own vehicles and avoid highways this Ganapati festival season, on an experimental basis.

"It's a fabulous idea, and we will definitely explore it. We've been carrying trucks for a long time, and the truck drivers on board are required to purchase regular tickets to travel. Allowing passenger vehicles is certainly something we can consider. However, we'll need to examine and rework a few technical aspects, as the wagons used to carry trucks are currently designed to those specific requirements. But it's doable, and we'll aim to try it during the upcoming Ganapati festival season," said Santosh Kumar Jha, Chairman and Managing Director of Konkan Railway.

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What is Ro-Ro?

Konkan Railway's novel experiment with ‘Roll-on Roll-off' (Ro-Ro) of trucks over wagons has been a resounding success. In this arrangement, trucks are loaded through a ramp provided at the dead-end of a loop onto wagons, which have been suitably modified for through passage of trucks. Before loading onto the wagons, trucks are weighed and passed under a height gauge (maximum height - 3.425 metres above road level) to ensure that they conform to the maximum moving dimensions for safe passage. The driver and cleaner of the truck travel along with tickets, sleeping in their truck cabin.

Ro-Ro highlights

- The service operates at present only between Kolad and Mangalore.

- In this arrangement trucks are loaded on a ramp provided at the dead-end of a loop on wagons.

- The wagons have been suitably modified for through passage of trucks over them.

- Before loading over the wagons, the trucks are weighed and passed under a height gauge (maximum height - 3.425 metres above road level) to ensure that they conform to the maximum moving dimensions for safe passage.

- The driver and cleaner of the truck travel along with tickets, sleeping in their truck cabin.

- The train is not operated till a minimum 40 trucks are available for transport

- For cars or SUVs, a similar process will need to be followed, but the wagon mechanism will be required to be modified as per the dimensions of cars or SUVs.

- Vehicles will be required to be taken to Kolad

- A set minimum number of vehicles will be required to be available for the train to complete.

Konkan Railway cuts monsoon timetable by 10 days

In a first, Konkan Railway has slashed its monsoon timetable by 10 days. The Konkan Railway has announced its monsoon timetable starting from 15 June to 20 October.

"We are better prepared this time and hence we have curtailed the monsoon timetable by a few days. Extensive cleaning of catchwater drains and inspection of cuttings across the route have been conducted. Ongoing and completed geo-safety projects have drastically reduced the instances of boulder falls and soil slippages," Jha said, listing out the monsoon preparations.

He added, "636 trained personnel are being deployed for round-the-clock patrolling at vulnerable locations. Loco pilots have been instructed to reduce train speed to 40 km/h during low visibility caused by heavy rainfall. Installation of LED signals for enhanced visibility during low light and foggy conditions has also been done, in addition to pre-warn systems with self-recording rain gauges active at 9 stations -- Mangaon, Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Vilwade, Kankavali, Madgaon, Karwar, Bhatkal and Udupi -- to monitor and alert officials about rainfall levels."

"Flood warning systems are functional at key bridges, i.e., Kali river (between Mangaon & Veer), Savitri river (between Veer & Sape Wamane) and Vashishti river (between Chiplun & Kamathe), to alert officials if water levels reach dangerous thresholds," he added.

Tunnel and station upgrades on the horizon

He said new tunnels will be built at Pernem and Old Goa on an alternate alignment, and a plan has been sent to the Railway Board. He also mentioned that two stations -- Madgaon and Udupi -- have been selected for upgrade under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, but funding for the same is yet to be released by the Railway Board.