Rail Freight Transport System in Tripura: An Analysis of Performances and Prospects

This chapter focuses on the nature of rail freight services in the state of Tripura and the infrastructural facilities of the railway freight transport system involved. Land use surveys were carried out using a total station and handheld receiver of the Global Positioning System (GPS). Performance of the goods stations was measured through data envelopment analysis (DEA) method. The study reveals that stations with warehouses provide inward (and occasionally outward) freight services. In order to support this domestic demand, food grains such as rice, wheat and pulses, and other necessary goods such as cement, fertiliser, stone cheeps, bolder, petrol and diesel are imported through rail. Both in situ and ex situ development models have great potentiality for rail freight transport in Tripura.