The Western Railway has been continuously running goods and parcel special trains to keep the supply of essential commodities moving across the country. Keeping the momentum of the supply chain, Western Railway has run 835 parcel trains from April 1st, 2021 to March 14th, 2022. During this period, the loading in goods trains recorded 83.29 million tonnes as compared to 76.65 million tonnes in the corresponding period of last year, which is approx 9% higher. This has resulted in generating total goods revenue of approx. Rs. 10,293 Cr.
According to Sumit Thakur, Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, these trains have transported commodities weighing more than 3.21 Lakh tonnes during this period. These commodities include agricultural produce, medicines, medical equipment, fish, milk, etc. The revenue generated through this transportation has been approx. Rs. 114.45 crore.
Western Railway ran 174 Milk Special trains with a load of about 1.25 lakh tonnes and 100% utilization of the wagons. Similarly, 176 COVID-19 special parcel trains with a load of around 36,000 tonnes were also run to transport essential commodities. In addition to this, 298 indented rakes carrying more than 1 lakh tonne were also run with 100% utilization. 187 Kisan Rails with a load of approximately 52,000 tonnes have also been run from various divisions from April 1st,2021 to March 14th,2022. The objective was to help the farmers find new markets for their produce and also for its economical and fast transportation.
Western Railway’s Divisional Business Development Units (BDUs) are being closely monitored which has resulted in not only improvement in parcel traffic but also acquiring better freight opportunities in terms of new traffic. It is worth noting that the Western Railway recently crossed a major milestone of Rs. 13,000 Crore in Originating Revenue.