North Eastern Railway (NER) has operated its longest-ever freight train, ‘Awadh Mahashakti’, as part of efforts to improve freight movement and make better use of its network capacity, according to The Indian Express.
The long-haul freight service was operated by the Lucknow division on August 20 between Gonda and Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. The train covered around 160 km in 3 hours and 50 minutes, maintaining an average speed of 42 kmph.
Sumit Kumar, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of North Eastern Railway (NER), said ‘Awadh Mahashakti’ was formed for the first time by the zone. The train was assembled at Gonda Yard under NER’s Lucknow division, reported The Indian Express.
Nearly 2-km-long train carried 129 wagons
The freight train comprised three rakes of BCN empty wagons, with a total of 129 wagons hauled by three locomotives. The train, which stretched for nearly 2 km, left Gonda at 1:50 pm on Thursday and reached Sitapur at 5:40 pm.
The operation allowed three rakes to travel together as a single freight movement, helping reduce the number of train paths required for transporting the empty BCN wagons towards the northern region.
“This long haul of 3 rakes is NER’s first train. This long haul saved 2 passages as three rakes travelled in one passage. This is important for supplying BCN empties for loading in northern region,” the CPRO told The Indian Express.
Gonda-Sitapur route part of Delhi-Guwahati freight network
The Gonda-Burhwal-Sitapur section is part of High-Density Network-4 (HDN-4), a key railway corridor connecting Delhi with Guwahati. The route is important for freight and passenger connectivity between northern and eastern parts of the country.
The operation of ‘Awadh Mahashakti’ is expected to support more efficient utilisation of railway capacity, particularly by moving multiple freight rakes in a single train movement.
Rudrastra remains Indian Railways’ longest freight train
The latest NER operation follows Indian Railways’ operation of ‘Rudrastra’ last year, which was significantly longer at around 4.5 km.
‘Rudrastra’ was formed by combining six empty BOXN rakes, comprising 354 wagons and seven locomotives. It was operated by the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Division of East Central Railway.
The train travelled around 200 km between Ganjkhwaja and Garhwa Road stations in approximately five hours, recording an average speed of 40.