Arshiya Rail Infrastructure Limited has started a container train service from north India to Cochin port. The first container train with 90 twenty foot containers from Jodhpur reached the Ernakulam wharf of the Cochin port on Tuesday with a consignment of white cement for distribution in various parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The train service will be initially bi-weekly. It will facilitate movement of goods from north India at much cheaper rates than by road transit. The return leg may carry imported containers coming through the Vallarpadam International Container Transit Terminal (ICTT). The service opens up connectivity between inland container depots in north India to the ICTT.
It is also possible to move consignments like raw-rubber from Kerala to north India at competitive rates through the rail service, a port release said.