Maruti hitches a ride on Indian Railways, transports 7.2 lakh vehicles in 5 years

Carbon dioxide emissions are dangerous. They are a major source of air pollution in the urban areas. In order to minimise emission of carbon dioxide, Maruti Suzuki had resorted to an innovative plan to transport vehicles in India and it has proved to be a success.

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Over the last five years, Maruti Suzuki has transported more than 7.2 lakh vehicles using the Indian Railways. More than 1.8 lakh vehicles took the rail route for transportation which is the highest-ever railway dispatch by the company against the earlier figure of nearly 88000 units in 2016-17. This emphasis on using railways has helped the company offset over 3,200 MT of carbon dioxide emissions, cumulatively.
While speaking about the company's initiative to transport vehicles using railways, Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India said, “The transportation of finished vehicles via railways has many tangible benefits. It is a clean, environment friendly mode of transportation. It reduces congestion on highways and there is more space available to other vehicles. Therefore, as a conscious effort at Maruti Suzuki, we have taken important steps to enhance vehicle transportation via railways."  Ayukawa also thanked the Indian Railway ministry for their support and cooperation which has helped to increase their volume of transport through the railways.

Maruti Suzuki has been progressively increasing use of railways for its vehicle transportation. The transportation by rail exceeded 1.8 lakh in 2020-21, which accounts for nearly 13 per cent of total sales in the same period.

With Maruti Suzuki there has been an evolution in ferrying vehicles using single deck converted rakes to deploying high speed, high-capacity new design double deck rakes.

As the volume of vehicles increased, the need for shifting to high-capacity dedicated wagons was felt. Accordingly, Indian Railways’ design arm RDSO (Research Design and Standard’s Organization) took feedback from various vehicle manufacturers, including Maruti Suzuki and developed a new design with twin-deck rake that doubled the carrying capacity to 265 cars. Over 140,000 Maruti Suzuki cars were transported through these twin-deck rakes. These rakes carry up to 318 cars and can be operated at a speed of 95/km per hour, highest for any goods train in India. With all these improvements, further operational efficiency has been enhanced.