R A I L WA Y C O N N E C T I V I T Y I N S O U T H A N D S O U T H - W E S T

A S I A : P L A N S A N D P R O S P E C T S

D R . M A N O J S I N G H

A D V I S E R ( T R A N S P O R T )

N I T I A AY O G , G O V E R N M E N T O F I N D I A

Conference on Strengthening Railway Transport Connectivity

in South and South-West Asia

March, 15-16, 2017, New Delhi

AGENDA

• A case study of a successful rail connectivity project in South Asia

• Progress in Rail Development in India’s India’s North Eastern

Region

• Some Cross Border Crucial Transport Connectivity Projects in NE

• Thoughts on Next Steps Forward

International Boundary of India

CASE STUDY OF INDO-NEPAL

CONNECTIVIT Y AND ICD BIRGUNJ

MAP OF NEPAL

AT SIRSIYA, BIRGUNJ, NEPAL

INDO-NEPAL TRADE

• TRADE FLOWS • TREATY OF TRANSIT & TRADE • NITDB DEVELOPS ICD’S IN BHAIRAVA, BIRATNAGAR & BIRGUNJ • RAIL SERVICES AGREEMENT SIGNED ON MAY 21 , 2004. •NITDB AWARDS TMC TO CONCOR • CONCOR FORMS JV WITH NTWC & IMTL

RAXAUL

BIRGUNJ

KOLKATA

ICD BIRGUNJ RAIL CONNECTIVITY

ICD BIRGUNJ GATE COMPLEX

ICD BIRGUNJ CFS

HANDLING EQUIPMENT

CUSTOMS PROCEDURE - IMPORT

CUSTOMS PROCEDURE - EXPORT

TARIFF

Movements Per TEU Per FEU

One Way Load:

(Import)KDS -ICD/Birgunj

One Way Load:

(Import) HDC-ICD/Birgunj

One Way Load :

Export)ICD/Birgunj - KDS

One Way Empty :

ICD/Birgunj-Shipping lines’ plot in Kolkata Port Area or vice-versa

One Way Load + Other way Empty :

KDS-ICD/Birgunj- Shipping lines’ plot in Kolkata Port

One Way Load + Other way Empty :

HDC-ICD/Birgunj- Shipping lines’ plot in Kolkata Port Area.

TERMINAL HANDLING CHARGES

THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE:18.09.03

LESSONS

• Institutional Support is very Important

• -Government, Railways, Customs, Port

• Quality Infrastructure is the Starting Point

• Well Thought Out Offer to Customer is crucial

• After Sale Service to the Customers is Important

R A I L D E V E L O P M E N T I N T H E N O R T H E A S T E R N R E G I O N

O F I N D I A

International Boundary of India

S.No State Length of lines (in km) Total (in km) Route kms. per

sq.km. of Area

Broad Gauge Meter Gauge

1. Arunachal

Pradesh

0 1.26 1.26 0.01

2. Assam 1470.06 988.87 2458.93 31.03

3. Meghalaya 0 0 0 0.00

4. Manipur 0 1.35 1.35 0.04

5. Mizoram 0 1.50 1.50 0.09

6. Nagaland 11.13 1.72 12.85 0.78

7. Sikkim 0 0 0 0.00

8. Tripura 0 151.43 151.43 14.39

9 All India 64000 19.60

EXISTING RAIL ROUTE KILOMETERS IN THE NORTH EAST

RAILWAYS

MASTER PLAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RAIL

INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE NORTHEAST REGION

RAILWAYS : ON-GOING PROJECTS IN NORTH EAST

New Line Gauge

Conversion Doubling Total

Projects in progress (Nos.) 15 5 5 25

Of which, National Projects (Nos.) 9 2 - 11

Throw forward (Rs. Crore) as on 1.4.2016

27,816 1,246 5,314 34,378

Length commissioned oof ongoing projects as on 1.4.2016 (Km)

429 2014 30 2,473

22

Expenditure and commissioning of B.G railway line in NE

1917 2133

2668

3387

5149 5398

87.05 68.08

0

309.24

447.46

537.05

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Expenditure* (Rs. in crore) Commissioning of B.G Railway line (Length in Km)

E

X

P

E

N

D

I

T

U

R

E

L

E

N

G

T

H

* Includes New lines, Gauge conversion & Doubling

Ongoing projects state wise

S.No. State Nos. of National Projects Other Projects Total

1 Assam 4 9 13

2 Arunachal Pradesh 0 2 2

3 Manipur 1 0 1

4 Meghalaya 1 1 2

5 Mizoram 1 0 1

6 Nagaland 1 1 2

7 Sikkim 1 0 1

8 Tripura 2 1 3

Total 11 14 25

25

STATE CAPITAL CONNECTIVITY

S.No. State Capitals Project Target Date

Commissioning

1 Arunachal Pradesh Naharlagun

(Itanagar)

Harmuti -Naharlagun 29.03.2014

(Commissioned)

2 Tripura Agartala* LMG - SCL GC 27.03.2015 #

Kumarghat-Agartala 20.02.2016 #

3 Manipur Imphal Jiribam - Imphal Jiribam – Dholakhal –

31.05.16, Dholakhal –

Tupul – 2017-18,Tupul –

Imphal – 2018-19

4 Mizoram Aizawl Bhairabi- Sairang (Aizawl) 2018-19

5 Nagaland Kohima Dimapur - Zubza (Kohima) 2019-20

6 Meghalaya Shillong Tetelia - Byrnihat 2017-18

Byrnihat - Shillong 2019-20**

7 Sikkim Gangtok

(Rangpo)

Sivok - Rangpo 2019-20***

* Already connected with MG in Aug’2008. ** Work stopped since Nov’2010 due to agitation by Khasi Student Union. Work restarted since 07.01.2015. ***

Mahananda wild life clearance awaited from MoEF. # opened for freight traffic.

Pictures of Completed Projects

NAHARLAGUN STATION

(Arunachal Pradesh)

MENDIPATHAR STATION

(Meghalaya)

C R U C I A L C R O S S B O R D E R C O N N E C T I V I T Y P R O J E C T S I N

N O R T H E A S T

CONNECTIVITY WITH BANGLADESH

Agartala- Akhaura Rail Link

• This project would result in reducing the distance between Kolkata and Agartala by 1200 km.

• The project would link Indian Railway network with Bangladesh Railway Network, thereby

opening up North-East/Eastern India particularly South-East Asian countries through Bangladesh.

• The current status is that funding of the project has been tied up and construction has started. The

project needs to be put on the fast track.

One Simple Suggestion for Indo

Bangladesh Rail Container Traffic

Start a Train Service from

Majerhat Terminal in Kolkata to

Benapole

CONNECTIVITY WITH MYANMAR

31

ASIAN RAILWAY NETWORK

INDO-MYANMAR RAIL CONNECTIVITY

Railway Map of Myanmar

BROAD PROJECT PARAMETERS OF INDO -MYANMAR RAIL CONNECTIVITY

• Imphal – Moreh – 111 Kms – Rs. 5500 Crores ($ 1 b)

• Moreh – Kalay – 130 Kms – Rs. 3000 Crores ($ 0.5 b)

• Possibility of funding by ADB and other Multi-lateral Agencies;

MYANMAR: INDIA’S LAND BRIDGE TO ASEAN

T H O U G H T S O N WAY F O RWA R D

• The OSJD is a very Inspiring Institution

• Countries of South Asia should follow the OSJD methods and

methodology

• Informal Working Groups – both bilateral and multilateral should

be formed – e.g. tariffs for transit rail traffic; more links

• BCIM Road Agreement is a good example and can be replicated for

Rail

• Support of A few Academic and Research Institutions and Think

Tanks in all these countries should be Taken

• Support of Institutions – ESCAP, BIMSTEC, SAARC

• Government of India is firmly behind Increasing the Role of

Railways in Enhancing Goods and Passenger Flows across Nations

Thank You

manoj.singh04@nic.in

CONNECTIVITY WITH NEPAL

MOU between India and Nepal has been signed for following five BG Rail Links:

(i) Jaynagar (Bihar/India) – Janakpur (Nepal)- Bujalpura- Bardipas (Nepal) : 69 km

(ii) Kakarbita (Nepal)- New Jalpaiguri Naksalbari (West Bengal/India) : 15.98 km

(iii) Notama (UP/India) – Bhairvan (Nepal) : 15.30 km

(iv) Nepalganj (Nepal) – Nepalganj Road (U.P/India): 12.11 km

(v) Jogbani (India) – Biratnagar (Nepal) : 18.6 km

Out of above there are two sanctioned works are already in progress, one of Jaynagar (Bihar/India) –

Janakpur (Nepal)- Bujalpura- Bardipas (Nepal) = 69 km GC cum new line and another Jogbani (India) –

Biratnagar (Nepal) : 18.6 km in progress. The works are being executed by IRCON. The tentative target for

completion is March 2018 subject to availability of land in Nepal.

Rexaul (India) can be also connected up to Kathmandu (Nepal) (90 km)

CONNECTIVITY WITH THAILAND

INDIA-MYANMAR-THAILAND TRILATERAL HIGHWAY Seamless Trave l in Southeas t As ian Count r ies by Connec t ing Ind ia -Myanmar-Thai land v ia Road which i s expec ted to g ive a b ig boos t to t rade and economy in ASEAN Count r ies . The Ind ia -Myanmar-Thai land ( IMT) Motor Vehic le Agreement (MVA) i s a lmost ready and wi l l be s igned soon . The IMT wi l l open up ind ia ’s l and locked nor th eas t to sou th eas t a s ia , and a l low f re igh t and conta iner t rucks to move f rom impha l to manda lay. ind ia has a l ready bu i l t 160 kms . to th i s h ighway and has inv i ted t ender for upgrada t ion of b r idges and roads . The Tr i l a te ra l Highway wi l l a l so open up access for goods f rom nor th eas te rn reg ion and o ther pa r t s o f ind ia to o the r asean count r ies th rough a l and rou te once my anmar i s connec ted by road to tha i l and .

I N D I A - M Y A N M A R - T H A I L A N D T R I L A T E R A L

H I G H W A Y

CONNECTIVITY WITH BHUTAN

At present there is No Rail Link With Bhutan. Feasibi l ity Studies have been carried out for extending Rail Head from India to Bhutan at 5 locations. These are as under: ( i ) Kokhrajhar (Assam, India) to Gelephu (Bhutan) (57.70 Km) ( i i ) Pathsala (Assam, India) to Nanglam (Bhutan) (51.15 Km) ( i i i ) Rangiya (Assam, India) to Samdrupjongkhar (Bhutan) (48.04 Km) ( iv) Banarhat (West Bengal , India) to Samtse (Bhutan) (23.15 Km) (v) Hasimara (West Bengal , India) to Phuentshol ing (Bhutan) (17.52 Km)

CONNECTIVITY IN SOUTHWEST ASIA

• South and South-West Asia emerges among the least integrated regions in the world and has

the bulk of its potential for regional economic integration remaining to be exploited.

• UNESCAP estimates show that intraregional trade could generate an additional US$ 52

billion in exports annually.

• Among the barriers to fuller exploitation of potential of intraregional trade in South and

South-West Asia include tariffs and non-tariff barriers that lead to a substantial proportion of

trade taking place informally at the borders.

• Important reason explaining the low intra-regional trade in South and South-West Asia is its

high cost vis-à-vis trade with other regions.

• The trade costs for intraregional trade in South and South-West Asia have been high because

of poor land transport connectivity and trade facilitation. This means that the region is better

connected with Europe and North America than with itself. Therefore the benefits of

geographical proximity and contiguity are not available to intra-regional trade.

• Strengthening transport connectivity and facilitation at the borders could go a long way in

assisting in fuller exploitation of potential of intraregional trade and of regional production

networking.

• Because of poor connectivity, South and South-West Asia has also not been able to leverage

its strategic location at the crossroads of West, Central, and East Asia to serve as a hub for

trade as it once was at the times of Silk Route.

• TransAsian Railway routes that may help to exploit the region’s potential as an economic hub.

• Strengthening transport connectivity and facilitation at the borders could go a long way in

assisting in fuller exploitation of potential of intraregional trade and of regional production

networking.

• Because of poor connectivity, South and South-West Asia has also not been able to leverage

its strategic location at the crossroads of West, Central, and East Asia to serve as a hub for

trade as it once was at the times of Silk Route.

• TransAsian Railway routes that may help to exploit the region’s potential as an economic hub.

Country Rail lines (total route-km)

2000 2014

Afghanistan * *

Bangladesh 2 768 2,835

Bhutan * *

India 62 759 65,808

Iran 6 688 8,560

Turkey 8 671 10,087

Source: WDI Online Database and UNESCAP (2013)

Notes: *indicates that railway does not exist.

• The Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network, which entered into

force in 2009, is encouraging Governments and financing institutions to increase investment

in the sector.

• Other subregional and regional initiatives have also been catalytic in improving railway

network connectivity. For example, the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity launched in

2010 has renewed interest in the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link (SKRL) Project.

• Railways face the challenge of missing links, which prevent the network from functioning as

a continuous system. According to ESCAP estimates, these constitute about 10,500 km of rail

track, mostly located in the ASEAN subregion.

• Yet, the subregion suffers from railway gauge mismatch, particularly between South Asia and

South-West Asia. Therefore, the railway train can run from Dhaka to Istanbul if the railway

gauge can be standardized or dual gauge introduced.

• Missing links in the Trans-Asian Railway Network in South and South-West Asia (as of

2011)

• Poor connectivity is one of the major constraints to regional economic integration of South

and South-West Asian countries.

• In order to realize their potential for regional economic integration, regional cooperation

groupings will have to pay attention to strengthening connectivity not only in terms of

physical but also soft aspects such as transport, transit and trade facilitation.