Chennai: Road railer, an innovative bi-modal transportation technology, where in a road railer unit operates as semi trailer on road mode for pick-up and delivery of goods, and as wagon on rail mode when coupled with adaptor bogies for long distance transportation of goods, is soon to be introduced in the city. Dry run of 50 road wagons of Road Railer project was conducted in Melpakkam-Jolarpettai- Melpakkam in Chennai division recently.
The new concept of road railer will increase the efficiency of Railways for long distance transportation with a hydraulic lift for the wheels. “Goods are loaded on to a road railer unit in a godown which run on wheels on road, and when reaching the rails, wheels are lifted and it is coupled with railway wagon at the terminal. On rails, the tyres will be in lifted condition and on road, the bogies will be adapted to serve the purpose,” said Om Prakash, a senior railway official.
He added that road railers can provide door-to-door service by integrating speed wagon on rail mode when coupled with adaptor bogies for long distance transportation of goods. Flexibility of road truck will improve the process and efficiency as they have slackless coupling and high operating speed on rail, he added.
TP Singh, Senior Divisional Operations Manager, Chennai Division, Southern Railway, said that road railer will reduce the external costs like handling, stuffing, de-stuffing, labour charges etc.
“Less damage will be caused to the cargo as slackless coupling will ensure jerk free movement, and less handling will also render them in a good condition,” he said.
