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Tamil Nadu-Chennai
By Our Special Correspondent
V. Anand, General Manager, Southern Railway, addressing the executive committee of the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Chennai on Friday. — Photo: R. Ragu
Addressing the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry here this evening, the General Manager, V.Anand, said at present such a tracking system was available for passenger trains with the help of a national enquiry system. Similar arrangement for goods trains would become operational, at least in Southern Railway, within two months. Admitting that the freight rates in the Railways were higher compared to other countries, he said that this was because of cross-subsidisation of passenger fares. As a social commitment, he said, passenger fares were kept at a minimum at the cost of freight rates. This apart, the passenger trains had been given priority over goods trains, though the latter was their main revenue earner. With all broad gauge lines on the Southern Railway fully saturated, the administration had to squeeze goods trains. The best way to increase the freight traffic, Mr. Anand said, was to increase the speed of the goods trains, reduce the running time and improve their efficiency. Explaining the customer-friendly measures effected in the last budget, he said freight rates for petrol, cement, and other commodities were reduced and incentives given for short lead traffic. A separate officer had been posted in the zone to hear the grievance and representations from the traders, he said and appealed to them to make use of the forum. Earlier, the president of the chamber, R.Muthu, suggested forming a committee on freight to take up issues relating to movement of goods at regular intervals. Addressing SICCI members, along with Bruno Le Gurun, Area Manager (Africa, South Asia, near and Middle East Mediterranean and Indian Ocean) of the Authority, Pierre-Yves Collardey, Director-Commercial of the Port of Le Havre Authority, said the multi-purpose seaport in France, a gateway for the EXIM trade to explore business opportunities in the European Union, was keen on increasing cargo volumes from the country, especially from the southern region. Towards this, the management of the landlord port initiated many extension and improvement projects, including construction of six additional berths, primarily to handle the expected "exponential growth" in container traffic, he said. The five container terminals at the port have a capacity to handle 1.5 million TEUs. The port, which handled nearly 1.7 million TEUs in 2002, was targeting container traffic of 2 million TEUs. Mr. Collardey said the port, managed by a public body, was located strategically "in the middle of the European market and within a 200-km radius encompassed 25 million inhabitants", including those in high growth consumer markets of London and Paris. Six shipping lines moved cargo from the "leading French port for container traffic" on the mainline and thereafter on feeder vessels to Chennai, he said, pointing out that the European Union was the largest trade partner of India. Earlier, the two-member delegation also visited the Chennai port.
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