WR initiatives for carriage of essential items during Coronavirus lockdown
Declared three parcel express trains
Transportation of essential items like medical supplies, medical equipment, food in small parcel sizes is going to be very important during the lockdown period in the wake of COVID19. To mitigate the difficulties to a certain extent, Western Railway has come forward and has decided to open for transportation of these essential items. Accordingly, time table of 3 such Parcel Express trains has been declared by Western Rly on 29th March, 2020.
As stated by Alok Kansal- General Manager of Western Rly, interested parties may contact parcel offices and Divisions to register their indents for these Parcel Express trains. Movement will be by parcel trains point to point as per extent rules. WR has finalized the time table for 3 Parcel Express trains for commodities such as Milk Product, Edible Oil, Spices, Groceries and Biscuits.
● Kankariya - Sankrail Goods Terminal Parcel Special Rake
The first Parcel Special Rake has been planned to run from Kankariya in Gujarat to Sankrail in West Bengal. The train will depart from Kankariya on 31st March, 2020 at 23.45 hrs and will reach Sankrail Goods Terminal on 2nd April, 2020 at 20.00 hrs completing a journey of 2073 kms. On its return journey, the train will leave from Sankrail Goods Terminal on 4th April, 2020 at 22.30 hrs and will reach Kankariya on 6th April, 2020 at 18.15 hrs.
The train will halt at Anand, Vadodara, Surat, Paldhi, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Nagpur, Raipur, Bilaspur, Jharsuguda, Tata Nagar and Kharagpur stations in both directions.
● Bandra Terminus - Ludhiana Parcel Special Rake
The second Parcel Special Rake has been planned to run from Bandra Terminus in Mumbai, Maharashtra to Ludhiana in Punjab. The train will depart from Bandra Terminus on 1st April, 2020 at 20.00 hrs and will reach Ludhiana on 3rd April, 2020 at 11.30 hrs completing a journey of 1705 kms. On its return journey, the train will leave from Ludhiana on 3rd April, 2020 at 23.30 hrs and will reach Bandra Terminus on 5th April, 2020 at 17.30 hrs.
The train will halt at Vapi, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, Ajmer, Jaipur, Delhi and Ambala stations in both directions.
● Karambeli - Changsari Parcel Special Rake
The next Parcel Special Rake has been planned to run from Karambeli in Gujarat to Changsari in Assam. The train will depart from Karambeli on 2nd April, 2020 at 18.00 hrs and will reach Changsari on 5th April, 2020 at 5.00 hrs. completing a journey of 2893 kms. On its return journey, the train will leave from Changsari on 6th April, 2020 at 12.00 hrs and will reach Karambeli on 8th April, 2020 at 21.30 hrs.
The train will halt at Valsad, Udhana, Jalgaon, Akola, Nagpur, Durg, Raipur, Bilaspur, Jharsuguda, Tata Nagar, Sankrail Goods Terminal, Dankuni, Malda Town and New Bongaigoan stations in both directions.
Few more suggested paths can be Ahmedabad to Darbhanga/ Muzaffarpur. These probable paths are under consideration & can be finalised subjected to local administration permits movement of trucks and labour handling at originating and terminating points. The railways are in talks with concerned traders in this regard. Discussion have been done with M/s CTA Logistics, Western carriers, both Ahmedabad, AMUL products, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF) and Mint logistics Karambele, Vapi for loading of parcels for Time Tabled parcel trains.
Despite cancellation of passenger services, the goods services hasn't come to a total halt and the Railway is ensuring through all possibilities to maintain the supply of essential commodities across all parts of country by making sure that the movement of freight trains takes place so that coal reaches the power houses, food grains are available in the granaries and all essential commodities are available.
Here are some other efforts made by Western Railway during the lockdown period from 22nd to 27th March, 2020:
● A total of 337 rakes have been used to supply essential commodities such as POL (Petroleum, Oil & Lubricants), salt, cement, coal and containers were loaded amounting to 0.86 million tones.
● During the period 996 freight trains were interchanged with other railways including 496 trains handed over and 500 trains had taken over at different interchange points.
● Despite shortage of labour, all efforts are being made to unload important stock.
According to a press release issued by WR CPRO Ravinder Bhakar, despite facing total losses over Western Railway up to 28th March, 2020 has been pegged at Rs 164.24 Cr (inclusive of suburban+ non-suburban), Western Railway has also successfully refunded Rs. 130.95 crores against cancellation of tickets and in Mumbai Division itself refund of Rs. 61.89 crores has been made.
In another great initiative, Western Railway has decided to contribute to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund under the directives received from Railway Board. Every railway servant will make their contribution to the fund by donating their one day's basic pay from the salary. It is also noteworthy to mention that suitable monitoring of all activities & arrangements are being carried out by the Principal Heads of Departments along with their teams to cope with the situation and to ensure smooth implementation of all plans.
