Malayan Railway towards improving the marketshare of rice traffic

The movement of rice handled by Malayan Railway includes both local and imported rice. Imported rice which enters the country through Port Klang and Penang Port will then be distributed to the various LPN godowns in this country by rail and by lorries. Movement of local rice handled by the railway is usually made by LPN, and only small quantities are moved by private wholesalers in the north. The railway also handles rice for internal stock transfers made by LPN to the other godowns. Among the three types of haul handled by MR, long-haul movements of more than 100 km are favourable to MR, while the intrastate hauls are monopolised by the road hauliers. MR’s activities are only confined to the godowns which can be served by railway. LPN, being the major user of MR’s wagons in transporting rice, has godowns all over Peninsular Malaysia. Only 14 of these godowns are served by rail. The problems faced by LPN at the receiving godowns include a shortage of labourers and insufficient facilities to unload the rice into the godowns. These problems cause further detention of wagons at the godowns.