Topics Covered: Infrastructure- Railways.
RORO service of South Western Railway:
Context:
First ever RORO service of South Western Railway from Nelamangla (near Bengaluru) to Bale (near Solapur) has been started.
- This shall be the only privately operated RORO train services on Indian Railways.
What is RORO?
Roll On Roll Off (RORO) is a concept of carrying road vehicles loaded with various commodities, on open flat railway wagons.
- RORO services are combination of best features of road and rail transports in the sense that they offer door to door service with minimal handling transported by fat and direct rail link.
Advantages of RO-RO:
- Faster movement of goods and essentials, reducing Time taken by trucks to reach destinations due to traffic congestion in between cities.
- Reduces congestion on the roads.
- Saves precious fuel.
- Reduces carbon footprint.
- Relief to crew of truck as it avoids long distance driving.
- No hassles of check posts/toll gates etc.
- Seamless Inter-operability between roadways & railways-Inter-modal transport on existing track.
- Ensuring uninterrupted supply of essential commodities.
InstaFact:
RO-RO train services were first introduced in Indian Railways on Konkan Railways in 1999, and are running successfully since then.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- What is RORO?
- First ever RORO service of South Western Railway was recently started between?
- The only privately operated RORO train services on Indian Railways?
- RO-RO train services were first introduced in Indian Railways on?
Mains Link:
Discuss the advantages of RORO facility.
Sources: pib.
