Train wheel shortage hampering private rail services in India

Train wheel shortage hampering private rail services in India Private companies looking to operate cargo train services in India are finding themselves short of a critical component — train wheels.
   According to a report in the Economic Times today, a steep shortage of wheels is forcing the companies looking to operate private rail services to delay the introduction of their services.
   The story said wheel manufacturing prices have shot up 300 percent in the last 18 months due to excessive demand for trains and rising steel prices. State-run wheel manufacturers within India are reaching capacity (and there are no private manufacturers), driving some of the rail operators to look for imported wheels. But those wheels, the report said, cost up to four times what domestically produced wheels do.
   The wheel shortage has also hurt the wagon-manufacturing industry, with half-finished wagons lying in wait for wheels.