In a major boost to supply chain across the country, the railways has for the first time introduced time-tabled parcel trains for nationwide transportation of essential commodities and other goods, the national transporter said on Wednesday, identifying 40 new routes for such vans.
It said that this is expected to boost the availability of vital goods required for ordinary citizens, industry and agriculture during the coronavirus outbreak.
Approximately, 58 routes (109 trains) for parcel special trains have been notified since the beginning of the lockdown. Till April 5, 27 routes were notified, out of which 17 routes were regular scheduled services, while the remaining were for single trips only.
"Subsequently, 40 new routes have been identified and notified (and frequency of some of the previous routes has been increased). With this, almost all the important cities of India will get connected for transportation of vital goods at a fast speed. It may be noted that these services are expected to be further scaled up," railways said in a statement.
The railways said that local industries, e-commerce companies, interested groups, individuals and any other prospective loaders can book parcels on these trains.
Time-tabled parcel trains are planned as per the demand of the customers. They connect vital corridors of the country like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru.
In addition, proper connectivity has also been ensured to Guwahati to ensure supplies in the Northeastern region of the country.
Other important cities connected via these trains are Bhopal, Allahabad, Dehradun, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Ranchi, Gorakhpur, Thiruvananthapuram, Salem, Warangal, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatanam, Rourkela, Bilaspur, Bhusawal, Tatanagar, Jaipur, Jhansi, Agra, Nasik, Nagpur, Akola, Jalgaon, Surat, Pune, Raipur, Patna, Asansol, Kanpur, Jaipur, Bikaner, Ajmer, Gwalior, Mathura, Nellore, Jabalpur.
The Indian Railways has also been running other parcel trains as per demand of customers during this period, which include 'Milk Specials' from Palanpur (Gujarat) to Palwal (near Delhi), and from Renigunta (AP) to Delhi, milk products from Kankariya (Gujarat) to Kanpur (UP) and Sankrail (near Kolkata) and food products from Moga (Punjab) to Changsari (Assam).
"Time-tabled parcel trains are being run even on those routes where demand is less so that no part of the country remains unconnected. Some trains are being run with only two parcel vans, or with one parcel van and brake van," the railways said.
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