Rail Freight: getting back on track

Rail Freight to the Rescue



Sri Lanka's long-neglected railway system can be a more useful complement to roads and could take up much of the bulk freight transport, reducing traffic jams significantly. In a recent BIG Issue interview the Colombo Mayor stated that every effort will be taken to reduce the traffic problem by curtailing the inflow and outflow of heavy vehicles to the city during stipulated time limits at rush hours. If this comes into action it will give greater relief to the day-to-day commuters. On the other hand however, it will affect the transport of essential goods as well as delay urgent shipments which can be a huge obstacle to the currently stretched export markets of the country.

So the only solution is to find a viable alternative. In Sri Lanka if we consider an alternative method it is the railway system which runs in parallel with the road network. According to the General Manager, Sri Lanka Railways, “Rail is the best way to move export and import containers in and out of Colombo port”. Other than railway there is no other cost and time effective method to transport containers to and from Colombo port and this is the only solution which can be made with immediate effect. The remarks were made during a recent seminar on transport infrastructure organized by the Chamber of Construction Industry.

In particular, rail is the easiest and most sensible way of transporting petroleum products as almost all petroleum storage terminals are located near the tracks. Currently the railway system does some transport of petroleum products but it has the capacity and a greater potential to feed material such as bulk freight like cement and flour from the eastern port of Trincomalee to the rest of the country. In addition, the upcoming coal power plants can also be fed by the rail method in transporting coal from ports to the plants.

The railway also draws its strength from its function as a city feeder network for the suburbs of Colombo and other growing metropolitan towns of the Southern Province like Galle and Kandy in the hill country. However, according to industry sources, to make the best use of the tracks, railway stations should be set up in a manner that suits the mode of transport without having constant stops which is not economical. In all, the island’s railway network runs approximately 1,450kms, whilst some stretches are abandoned owing to the ethnic war and other reasons. The rail network is currently expanding its lines from the Southern district of Matara to Kataragama, further south. Meanwhile, the railway authorities are also planning to improve the control system around the hill country network in order to ease congestion according to officials.

Cross country rails

In other countries, rail transport plays a major part in logistics. Consider neighbouring India that has built more and more dry ports inland that are connected by rail networks. They have managed to ease the burden on roads as well as improve on the time factor. The US$3 trillion (PPP) Indian economy has some 63,221kms of railway tracks of which 46,807kms are broad gauge and 13,290kms are narrow gauge tracks.

According to industry sources in the US, the years 2006 and 2007 were the two busiest years in rail history. Furthermore expectations are that if rail traffic trends continue at the current rate for the rest of 2008 it would be ahead of 2007 which is currently the second busiest year on record in the world’s largest economy.

In the UK, research from Rail Freight Group (RFG) claims that the rail industry has attracted over UKP1.5 billion in investments from the private sector since privatization which has spurred a 50 percent growth. RFG studies for 2002/03 shows that rail freight had moved the equal of 5.6 million lorry journeys and saved 1.4 billion kilometers, if not which would have been transported by lorries. Public opinion showed that an estimated 79 percent of people identified transferring freight off roads onto rail as a priority for the government in tackling congestion on the motorways. This was more than twice the number advocating reductions in roadworks and more than four times the number in favor of building more roads.

In terms of volumes, it has been reported that rail freight moves an estimated 43.5 million tones of goods to and from the UK's ports as well as 65 percent of intercontinental trade in the north of England each year. On a daily basis, rail handles up to 1000 containers moving through the Port of Southampton whilst each year at the Port of Felixstowe 22 freight trains a day transports over one quarter million containers which is a large amount of cargo. If this cargo is being trucked each container will be requiring a separate trailer whilst the unit cost of transporting one container will be many times higher as compared to the rail transport. Consideration should be given on the labor, fuel, time and handling costs.

Commodity wise, rail freight transports all coal that produces one quarter of the UK's electricity, one third of metal products, and 80 percent of stone used for the construction industry in London. Nationally, three quarters of BMW minis leave the Cowley assembly plant on trains that move some 260 cars at a time whilst all major automobile firms such as Ford, Nissan, Jaguar, Volkswagon UK and MG Rover have switched on to using the rail freight. Additionally, big retailers such as Marks & Spencer, Rosebys, Safeway, Superdrug, Argos and ASDA are also direct users of the rail freight system.


Way forward

One fact that we cannot get away from is that high volumes of fossil fuels burnt each day is contributing to global warming that is threatening the well being of our future generations. This is the case for both the developed and developing nations. Whilst most rail systems operating around the world do also burn fossil fuels, the higher feul efficency levels that can be achieved by switching from road to rail can help to mitigate the negative impacts on the environment. Moreover, technological breakthrough will enable much cleaner electric rail systems to be used in developing nations.

According to a cost analysis on the environment, the British Government's own highly conservative figures show that in the next ten years rail freight could deliver environmental benefits worth well over four billion pounds. These figures are consistent with European studies that value the environmental benefits at more than five billion pounds. It is been stated that a typical freight train can remove 50 heavy container trucks from our roads. According to RFG research over the past six years alone rail freight is estimated to have saved two million tones of pollutants, 6.4 billion lorry kilo meters and 31.5 million lorry journeys. Compared with carrying the same tonnage by road, rail produces less than one tenth of the carbon monoxide; around one twentieth of the nitrogen oxide; less than nine percent of the fine particulates and around ten percent of the volatile organic compounds. It is also estimated that every tone of freight carried by rail produces at least 80 percent less carbon dioxide than by road.

Sri Lanka is known to have one of the most idle and under utilized rail networks in the world. Despite inheriting an expansive and comparatively modern system at the time, very little value addition has taken place. Moreover, vast parts of the tracks in the north have been completely destroyed by years of conflict. Given the clear economic, social and environmental benefits of switching more of our freight transport needs off the roads and onto the tracks, this matter should be brought to the fore of the policy agenda and urgent steps should be initiated to get things moving.