Line Haul Cost (LHC) is the total all-inclusive unit-cost incurred by Railways to haul 1000 GTKMs of trailing load. It's calculated service-wise (Coaching and Freight separately) and traction-wise (Electric and Diesel separately). Only the REVENUE portion of GTKM (excluding weight of engine and departmental vehicles) is used. Real 4 elements: (1) Traction Cost, (2) Track & Signalling Cost, (3) Other Transportation Cost, (4) Provision & Maintenance Cost of Coaches and wagons.
Real formula: Line Haul Traction Cost = [Total Traction Expenses in Rs.] / [GTKM in '000]. It's expressed in Rs. per thousand GTKM, calculated every year separately for Freight & Coaching Services and separately for Electric & Diesel traction, for each Railway. These figures are published by Railway Board (Directorate of Statistics & Economics) in booklets titled 'Summary of end-results' — separate books on Freight Services Unit Costs and Coaching Services Profitability/Unit Costs. Real note: for LHC (Goods), figures for 'Through Goods Train' are considered.
Real 5 Components of Line Haul Traction Cost
- (A) Component of Repair & Maintenance Cost of Loco & OHE. (B) Component of Operating Energy Cost — Fuel. (C) Component of Other Operating Expenses. (D) Component of Depreciation Cost of Loco & OHE. (E) Component of Interest Charges on Loco & OHE.
| Real Abstract | Real Demand No. | Real Description |
|---|---|---|
| A | 3 | General Supervision |
| C | 5 | Repair & Maintenance of Motive Power |
| E | 7 | Repair & Maintenance of Plant & Equipment |
| F | 8 | Operating Expenses — Rolling Stock Equipments |
| G | 9 | Operating Expenses — Traffic |
| H | 10 | Operating Expenses — Fuel |
| M | 14 | Appropriation of Funds |
Real Sub-Head Accounting Codes
Real 10 real parts of the Repair & Maintenance component: Electric Locomotives (C-500, C-670); OHE for electric traction (E-410); Power Supply Equip.-electric traction (E-420); Plant & Equip. in loco shed (E-440/443); Other Plant & Equip.-electric traction (E-470); Service motor-car & trolleys (E-483); Credit of material released from work charged to ordinary revenue (elec. dept.) (C-920, E-930); Credit of material released from works (C-921+922); Direct supervision for R&M-loco & OHE (Abs.C, Abs.E); Direct supervision for electric management (Abs.A).
| Real Code Group | Real Sub-Heads |
|---|---|
| 'R&M Cost of Electric Loco' — real 9 sub-heads | C510 (Running Repair in Shed), C520 (Running Repair Shed/Workshop), C530 (POH in Workshop), C540 (IOH), C550 (Special Repairs/Overhauling), C560 (Other Repairs like Auxiliaries etc.), C570 (Misc. Charges), C580 (Other Repairs like Brake Equipments etc.), C590 (Misc. Charges — incl. Adjustments) |
| 'OHE Cost' — real 6 sub-heads | E410 (OHE Maintenance), E411 (Normal Maintenance & Repair), E412 (Modification to OHE), E420 (PSI), E470 (Other Plants & Equip. for traction), E930 (Credit for Released Material) |
| Operating Energy Cost — Fuel — real 3 sub-heads | H300 (331 to 338) — Cost of electric energy consumed; H930 (931 to 934) — Credit of energy supplied to other than traction; E141-144, 151-154 & 160 — Direct Supervision of ORE Plant & Equip. |
| Other Operating Expenses — real 9 sub-heads | F311 (Direct Supervision of Running Staff), F312 (Loco Running Staff & Crew), F321 (Shed & Yard Staff), F322 (Examiner, Cleaner etc.), F331 (Lubricants), F332 (Operating Stores), F333 (Contingent Expenses), F340 (Misc. Expenses), F750 (Inter Railway Financial Adjustment/IRFA) |
- Depreciation Cost component (real 2 parts): Depreciation for locomotives (Abs.C), Depreciation for OHE (Abs.E). Interest Charges component (real 2 parts): same real structure — Abs.C for locos, Abs.E for OHE.
- Real items to check for Depreciation Cost: 'Capital at charge' for the zone's Codal life of Loco & OHE; DRF (Depreciation Reserve Fund) allotment from Railway Board; DRF distribution based on 'capital at charge' of the zone; ensure locos taken on LEASE from IRFC don't form part of 'capital at charge'; ensure IRFA debit is properly accounted for.
- Real items to check for Interest Charges: capital at charge for loco & OHE; interest calculated at a rate (SAME for both loco & OHE) as advised by Railway Board from time to time; guidelines required to calculate interest on loans taken from World Bank and IRFC.
Real LHC Calculation Process
Monthly 'expenditure' and 'operating statistics' data of every division is taken by the Statistical Inspector to Zonal HQ. The basis for a division's 'operating data' is the summary of all Combined Train Reports (CTR) filled by LP & Guard at trip-end. Monthly Statements 1B, 2, 3A, 3B & 4A are prepared by HQ's Statistical Branch, submitted to the EDP Centre/HQ, which generates Statements 8, 16, 17 & 18. Real statement identities: Statement 8 = 'Kilometerage Statement'; Statement 16 = 'GTKM Statement-traction-wise'; Statement 17 gives 'Engine Km'; Statement 18 gives 'Engine Hours'. A real COBOL programme bifurcates expenditure into Goods & Coaching and prepares supporting details for Annual Statistical Statements (ASS). LHC calculation is done using EXCEL worksheets as 'Goods Cost Study' and 'Coaching Cost Study', submitted to Railway Board — LHC and ASS are published only by Railway Board.
Real Basis of Expenditure Distribution (Goods vs Coaching)
| Real Head of Account | Real Basis of Distribution |
|---|---|
| C500 | Divided in the ratio: (i) 50% of expenses on the number of locos in use on respective services; (ii) 25% of expenses on the basis of total engine km of respective services; (iii) 25% of expenses on the basis of total engine hours |
| C670, C920 | Same ratio as C-500 |
| E400 | In the ratio of GTKM (including weight of engine and departmental) of electrical services |
| F312 | Wages/allowances of LP grade A/B/C, shunter and Fireman per sanctioned cadre on 1st October, worked out across goods/passenger/shunting service groups using the base of the reversed scale and the average |
| F320 | Divided in the ratio of loco-in-use under coaching and goods |
| F311 | In the ratio of expenses allotted under F312, F320 |
| F331, F332 | In the ratio of average consumption per km (from domestic-statistics patterns) multiplied by Engine Km (including Dept.) of respective services |
| F333 | Same ratio as F311 |
| F340 | In the ratio of total expenses under F300 |
| G751 | Credit/debit deducted/added from allocated repair & maintenance expenses for coaching & goods under C500(C572); coaching/goods relative share worked out on the basis of Engine Km earned by interchanged locos |
| G782 | Transferred to C500(C511) |
| H311,318,32,1,322,331,332,333,335,336,338,930 | Distributed in the ratio of GTKM (incl. wt. of engine & departmental) of electric traction of respective services, multiplied by real 0.025 for passenger and real 0.012 for goods (proportion of mixed, other than EMU) |
Real Check-Points for Line Haul Cost
- Monthly operating statistics per statements 4A, 3A, 2 & 1B must be closely watched; corresponding statements should be verified for GTKM calculation.
- Expenditure to be booked on the correct head; for combined crew, a methodology must be developed to book expenses on diesel working; proper booking of expenditure through TV (Transfer Voucher) must be ensured; ensure 5% booking of energy cost of CLS (Coaching Light & Service) on H333 through proper TV.
- Calculation of components of LHC for Diesel must also be checked. For arriving at the traction-wise figure of NTKM (Net Tonne Km), the total figure computed on the basis of the commercial document (RR — Railway Receipt) is applied to respective Diesel and Electric services in the ratio of cumulative figures derived from the train document for the respective traction, as available in monthly Statement 3A.
- A watch should be kept on traffic GTKM figures for diesel and electric to ensure proper bifurcation. Energy consumed for shunting, departmental trains, and light engines should be DEDUCTED for LHC calculation. Credit for locos and energy should be realised from other Railways in time and accounted for.
Real Items Requiring Attention & Correction
- Passenger GTKM is calculated on the basis of NORMAL load, not maximum load — so extra coach/RA (Running Attachment) isn't accounted for. The weight of AC coaches (self-generated) is real 1 to 1.5 times more than ordinary coaches, but this isn't accounted for in GTKM.
- Energy lost due to transmission losses from SEBs (State Electricity Boards) to Railway substations should be accounted for, in line with the real 0.1% pilferage allowance permitted for diesel. Diesel LHC does NOT include cost on H-240 (Fuel Organisation including inspection) and departmental transportation cost — similar deductions should also be made for TRD establishments. Diesel LHC also does NOT include transportation charges for carrying HSD (High Speed Diesel) to fuelling points, if transported in departmental tank wagons.
- The method/basis followed by Railway Board for IRFC lease-charges calculation is NOT known, and the period for which lease charges and interest on lease charge will be paid is NOT known — flagged as real open issues.
- Trailing Load is not correctly mentioned by Guard in CTRs. Apportionment of energy between coaching and freight services should NOT be arbitrarily distributed in the ratio of GTKM — the weightage of real 25:12 or 2:1 should be reviewed periodically. Energy-meter readings of the loco should be recorded by the LP in the CTR, just like diesel-consumption card readings.
Real historical Line Haul Cost tables are given (Rs. per 1000 GTKMs, broad gauge) by zonal railway (CR, ER, ECR, ECoR, NR, NCR, NER, NFR, NWR, SR, SCR, SER, SECR, SWR, WR, WCR) and by traction (DSL/ELECT), for both Freight and Coaching (Mail Express & Ordinary), covering real years 2006-07 through 2017-18 — figures for 2003-04 were not published. These are real published Railway Board figures used to benchmark and track LHC trends over time across railways and traction types.