Metro rail is the future, Konkan Rly will venture into it in big way: CMD

Margao: Chairman and managing director of Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd (KRCL) Santosh Kumar Jha has outlined his ambitious plans of having Konkan Railway venture into the metro rail business soon in a big way. He said that metro rail is the future of India and the world in terms of urban transportation.
KRCL is also looking at bagging big-ticket construction projects in India and overseas to increase its bottom line.
Speaking exclusively to TOI, Jha — who took charge of his office last month — wondered why Konkan Railway, despite being acknowledged as a “civil giant” in construction projects, had failed to have its footprints in the metro rail space.
“Metro technology is all about tunnel technology. Why hasn’t a single kilometre of metro construction been done by Konkan Railway?” Jha asked. “Because nobody ever thought of it. Now I am entering metro railway.” Konkan Railway’s first footprint on metro railway, Jha said, is the Navi Mumbai project, in which the organisation has been entrusted with operations and maintenance. Jha exuded confidence of bagging a few contracts of the upcoming metro rail construction projects.
“That is my strength. I am also going to supply metro coaches to many countries,” he said. “So now Konkan Railway will be seen in many metros –– in metro rail operations, in railway construction, or electrification.”
Jha, however, does not foresee a metro project in Goa anytime soon, owing largely to the prohibitive cost of construction (50% of which has to be borne by the state), and also due to the sensitivity of the people towards development and environment.
While track doubling, Jha said, was among his aspirations, it entails a cost of Rs 5,000 crore, a proposal for which he has placed before the Centre.
Jha has set several targets for Konkan Railway. He is determined to see his order book contain big-ticket construction projects worth Rs 15,000 crore over the next three years, in areas beyond operating and maintaining trains.
Apart from running trains, Konkan Railway also produces detailed project reports, provides project management consultancy, conducts third-party inspection of installations like bridges and tunnels, and offers expertise in drawing and design, electrification, signals and telecommunication, and operations and maintenance.
“We will venture into all of these areas; that’s where money will come from,” Jha told TOI.
Increasing the originating freight traffic from Konkan Railway stations to earn more revenue, introducing more trains originating from Goa, and providing state-of-the-art passenger amenities are among Jha’s goals for his three-year stint at the helm.
Jha said that the focus would largely be to divert container freight traffic from roads to Konkan Railway by creating infrastructure and providing rail connectivity from some ports to Konkan Railway. Moreover, several railway stations that draw high tourist footfall have been identified for a facelift. Plans are also in the offing, Jha said, to introduce more trains from Goa to connect new places.
Jha said that while two stations of Konkan Railway — Thokur and Udupi — already have world-class warehouses, the first phase of the warehouse at Verna in Goa will be ready by July, and by Dec the facility will be fully developed. Indapur, near Navi Mumbai, is being developed as a distribution logistics hub, and four stations have been chosen for similar development in the next fiscal, Jha said.
He said that the inland container depot at Balli in Goa has seen a considerable increase in the volume of cargo, while the container rail terminals developed at Ratnagiri and Khed have led to a diversion of container traffic from roads to rail.
Tapping the “huge” business potential in Goa’s pharmaceutical industry for diversion of its container cargo to Konkan Railway is one of Jha’s plans.
“We have had several trade meetings with the pharma industry in Goa and Mangalore, and we have received a good response, but there is a lot to be done,” Jha said.
Plans are also afoot by Konkan Railway to attract iron ore traffic, which is currently handled at Vasco by South Western Railway, and for which new infrastructure is being devised, Jha said.
The success of the executive lounge at Margao has encouraged Konkan Railway to create such facilities at seven big stations on the route, Jha said, for which tenders have been floated. A pod hotel is also on the anvil for the Margao railway station.