Railways transport 40,000 wagons of daily essentials in 12 days

 New Delhi: Here is how the Indian Railways has come out as the servatorem of India and its people. In order to ensure kitchens in homes keep running and farmers keep getting support, the Indian Railways transported 36724 wagons of foodgrain, 861 wagons of sugar, 1753 wagons of salt, 606 wagons/tanks of edible oil and 14317 wagons of fertilizer in 12 days. Between April 1 to April 12. One Railway wagon contains 58-60 ton consignment. The 12 days of significant efforts roughly translate into transporting 2.4 million tonnes of daily essentials.

Indian Railways has also identified 63 routes for Parcel Special Trains since the start of the lockdown for perishable commodities including fruits, vegetables, milk and dairy products and seeds for agriculture purpose. Till13th April, 63 routes have been notified and timetabled trains are being run on these routes.

The Parcel Specials have been planned to connect all the major cities of the country, viz Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. In addition, proper connectivity has also been ensured to Guwahati, to ensure supplies in the North-eastern region of the country. Other important cities connected via these trains are Bhopal, Allahabad, Dehradun, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Ranchi, Gorakhpur, Thiruvananthapuram, Salem, Warangal, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam, Rourkela, Bilaspur, Bhusawal, Tatanagar, Jaipur, Jhansi, Agra, Nasik, Nagpur, Akola, Jalgaon, Surat, Pune, Raipur, Patna, Asansol, Kanpur, Jaipur, Bikaner, Ajmer, Gwalior, Mathura, Nellore, Jabalpur, etc.

Trains are being run even on those routes where demand is less so that no part of the country remains unconnected. Trains have been given en-route stoppages at all feasible locations, so that maximum possible clearance of parcels may be done.

All the State Mission Directors and Concerned Secretaries of States/UTs have been requested to mobilize all their resources to take advantage of these trains being run by Railways. Addl Member (Commercial) Railway Board has offered that if they receive any demand from States regarding new routes or stoppage, they will immediately take necessary action to do needful.

A list of all Pr CCMs/ Chief Commercial Managers of different zones, the procedure of booking, time table of these Special Trains and a freight calculator have also been shared with all the officers for sharing and wider publicity. Here is the link for details regarding Parcel Special trains for more information.