Konkan Railway to discover operating Ro-Ro practice to ferry automobiles if sufficient demand

Jun 04, 2025 10:30 AM IST

The Konkan Railway’s Ro-Ro service, which permits automobiles to be transported together with their drivers, has historically been used for vehicles.

The Konkan Railway will discover the opportunity of operating a particular roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) practice service for transporting automobiles in the course of the upcoming Ganapti pageant, if there’s ample public demand, a prime official mentioned. It will probably be attainable to function such a service if there are at the least 40 automobiles to be transported at a time, Konkan Railway Corporation Limited’s Chairman and Managing Director Santosh Kumar Jha informed reporters on the KRCL headquarters at Belapur in Navi Mumbai on Tuesday.

The Konkan Railways has deliberate to spend ₹125 crore for varied passengers facilities, together with platform extension, development of foot-over bridges and extra.(Representational Image)

Asked why the KR doesn’t transport passenger automobiles by its pioneering Ro-Ro companies in the course of the Ganpati pageant, Jha mentioned they should make modifications for ferrying automobiles on wagons. The Konkan Railway’s Ro-Ro service, which permits automobiles to be transported together with their drivers, has historically been used for vehicles.

“I promise you that this time in Ganpati I will announce a special train (Ro-Ro),” Jha mentioned. The official mentioned he didn’t know folks would wish to transport their costly automobiles 750 km away. It takes 24 to 26 hours to succeed in Mangaluru (in Karnataka) by Ro-Ro from right here and for that one has to purchase a second class ticket from the motive force.

Highlighting that KR just isn’t a loss-making company, Jha mentioned it generated a web revenue of ₹301 crore in 2023-24. As per unpublished reviews, the company is anticipated to register a revenue of ₹140-150 crore within the final monetary yr. “The Konkan Railway was always in profit, barring two years of COVID-19,” Jha mentioned, including the KR is producing income from the operations and execution of tasks.

The company received tasks valued at ₹3,150 crore via tendering processes within the final 15 months and is already executing works of ₹4,087 crore, the official mentioned.

“About ₹7,200 crore of work orders are already in my hand and this year, we have targeted to get ₹15,000 crore of orders. I have full faith that we will achieve this target,” Jha mentioned.

The KR has deliberate to spend ₹125 crore for varied passengers facilities, together with platform extension, development of FOBs (foot overbridges) and offering retiring rooms, at railway stations within the subsequent three years, he mentioned.

The Public Works Department of Maharashtra has spent ₹99 crore for the event of 11 stations on the KR community. Now, the MIDC is spending ₹39 crore on Ratnagiri station alone for offering services, he mentioned. “You will see a full facelift of the Ratnagiri station before this year-end,” the official mentioned.

Also, the KR has despatched a proposal to the Railway Board for the restoration of eight halts which had been discontinued in the course of the COVID-19 time, he mentioned.

The official additional mentioned the whole Konkan Railway route is presently single line, aside from a 47-km-long part, and so they have proposed patch doubling works, estimated to price ₹5,100 crores, however these works want ministerial assist.

At current, the Konkan Railway has about ₹2,750 crore mortgage to repay and the company has deliberate to clear ₹600 crore dues of it throughout this monetary yr, he mentioned. Jha additionally mentioned they’ve proposed alternate options for Pernem and Old Goa tunnel development and the work has acquired an in-principle approval, however perform allocation is awaited.

The tunnels aren’t unstable, he added.