New Delhi: Indian Railways has successfully operated two long haul freight trains 'Trishul' and 'Garuda' for the first time over South Central Railway (SCR). Long haul trains, which are twice or multiple times longer than the normal composition of freight trains, provide a very effective solution to the problem of capacity constraints in critical sections.

Trishul is SCR's first long haul comprising of three freight trains, i.e., 177 wagons. This train was started on October 7 from Kondapalli station of Vijayawada division to Khurda division of East Coast Railway. SCR followed it up with the running of yet another similar one named Garuda on October 8 from Raichur of Guntakal division to Manuguru of Secunderabad division. In both cases, the long haul trains comprised of empty open wagons for loading of coal meant for predominantly thermal power stations.

SCR is one of the five major freight loading railways on Indian Railways. The bulk of SCR's freight traffic moves in certain arterial routes such as Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada-Gudur-Renigunta, Ballarshah-Kazipet-Vijayawada, Kazipet-Secunderabad-Wadi, Vijayawada-Guntur-Guntakal sections. As the bulk of its freight traffic has to pass through these major routes, it is essential for SCR to maximize throughput available across these critical sections.

Saving of path across congested routes, quicker transit time, maximizing the throughput of critical sections, saving in crews are the major operational benefits of running long haul trains, which help Indian Railways serve its freight customers better.

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