July 22, 2020: As part of the initiative to increase the market share of Railways in the movement of general cargo, the South Central Railway has started the Cargo Express.”
Under this concept, a ‘Time Tabled’ freight train will start from Sanath Nagar in Hyderabad to Adarsh Nagar in New Delhi from August 5. SCR has taken this as a pilot project and would be running the Cargo Express every Wednesday.
Generally, freight trains move bulk commodities that transportation of huge quantity by a single train by the customers. Moreover, these freight trains are generally loaded with a single commodity. However, with the gradual increase in the market for transportation on non-bulk commodity segments, it is imperative that Railways take steps to attract this segment of traffic as well, apart from what is being already carried by Parcel trains.
Accordingly, the concept of aggregating this general cargo in to a single train is planned which could be beneficial to both Railways and freight customers. Railway transportation is not only a safe mode but it is also cost effective.
For the first time in nearly four decades, to aid the small and medium sized customers, the Railways is permitting wagon level indenting. Here customers having even one wagon material of 60 tonnes approximately can book their cargo on a train.
This train will run as per the scheduled departure and arrival timings and days at both ends. The transit time to cover a distance of around 1700 kms between Hyderabad to New Delhi is just 40 hours.
The train will depart every Wednesday evening from Hyderabad and reach Delhi on Friday morning.
The average freight tariff from Hyderabad to Delhi and vice-versa is ₹2,500 per tonne, depending on the type of commodity loaded. It is almost 40 per cent lower than charges applicable by Road and also the existing railway parcel tariff.
The Cargo Express can be tracked in a real time basis.
Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, in a statement said the introduction of Cargo Express will be particularly beneficial to agriculture producers, traders, cargo movers, small and medium/ mini plant owners who will be able to move their cargo in record transit time at very low tariffs. Since the stations nominated are Major cities, it would be beneficial to huge number of customers in and around these cities.
Source: Business Line
