Increasing the Rail Share in Freight Transport in India

Sector:Sustainable Transport Undertaken By: The Energy and Resource Institute Recent Publication:2019

Over the last few years, the volume of freight transported in India has increased exponentially due to India's rapidly growing economy. Indian Railways, once the largest freight transport mode in the country, is rapidly losing it share in national freight mobility to road-based transport, which is more energy and emissions intensive. With the rail sector being one of the most environmentally benign mode of land transport, it is critical for the country to retain, and increase its share in overall freight traffic. This initiative carries out a commodity wise analysis to identify reasons for the reducing share of railways and proposes short to medium term recommendation to reverse this trend.