In a major boost to the supply chain across the country, Indian Railways has introduced  unhindered services of Time tabled Parcel Trains for nationwide transportation of essential commodities and other goods. This is expected to boost the availability of vital goods required for ordinary citizens, industry and agriculture.

Approximately, 58 routes (109 trains) for Parcel Special Trains have been notified since the start of the lock-down. Till 5th April 2020, 27 routes were notified, out of which 17 routes were regular scheduled services, while the remaining were for single trip 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.

Time Tabled Parcel Trains are planned as per the demand of the customers. Time tabled Parcel trains connect vital corridors 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, 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, etc.

Indian Railways has also been running other Parcel trains as per demand of customers during this period - which include:

a) ‘Milk Specials’ from Palanpur (Gujarat) to Palwal (near Delhi), and from Renigunta (AP) to Delhi

b) Milk products from Kankariya (Gujarat) to Kanpur (UP) and Sankrail (near Kolkata)

c) 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 2 Parcel Vans, or with 1 Parcel Van and Brake Van.

These Parcel Trains introduced in wake of COVID-19 pandemic over different zones are as under:

(This information is till the morning of 8th April, and is likely to be revised upwards regularly.)

LIST OF ROUTES

So far, approximately 32 pairs of parcel special have been notified as inter-Railway (long distance), while the remaining are intra-Railway (short distance).

Some of the longer routes for these Parcel Special trains are:

1)   Kalyan - Santragachi

2)   Kalyan - Changsari

3)   New Delhi - Chennai

4)   Salem - Bhatinda

5)   Salem - Hisar

5)   Yeswanthpur - HazratNizamuddin

6)   Yeswanthpur - Howrah

7)   Yeswanthpur - Gorakhpur

8)   Yeswanthpur - Guwahati

9)  Ahmedabad - Guwahati

10) Karambeli - Changsari

11) Kankariya - Sankrail

The facility of transporting parcels through these trains can be availed by any person or company. As per the available trends, following goods are being transported across the length and breadth of the country:

i.   Perishables (including eggs, fruits, vegetables, fish)

ii. Medicines, medical equipment, masks

iii. Milk and Dairy products

iv. Seeds (for agricultural use)

v. Other general goods such as E-Commerce consignments, packaged food items, books, stationary, packing material, etc

Trains have been given en-route stoppages at all feasible locations, so that maximum possible clearance of parcels may be done.Zonal Railways are publishing the time-tables of these trains in leading newspapers. In addition, regular customers and government agencies are also being contacted.

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SG/MKV