In the wake of Covid 19, Western Railway’s Parcel Special trains are continuously on the move for transporting most essential items, like medical equipment, medicines, food grains across the nation.
In continuation to this, three more parcel special trains with 74 trips are scheduled by Western Rly.
According to a press release issued by WR CPRO Sumit Thakur, details of the 3 parcel specials viz Bandra T- Jammu Tawi, Okha – Guwahati and Porbandar – Shalimar which are scheduled to be run, are as follows :-
● Bandra Terminus – Jammu Tawi Parcel Special Train (32 trips)
Train No 00901 Bandra Terminus – Jammu Tawi parcel special train will depart from Bandra Terminus at 20.00 hrs on 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, 29th & 31st August, 2020 and will reach Jammu Tawi at 08.00 hrs on the 3rd day. Similarly, Train No 00902 will leave Jammu Tawi at 18.30 hrs on 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, 29th & 31st Aug & 2nd Sept, 2020 and will arrive Bandra Terminus at 06.30 hrs on 3rd day. The train will halt at Vapi, Surat, Ankleshwar, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, Mahesana, Falna, Beawar, Ajmer, Jaipur, Alwar, Rewari, Delhi, Ambala, Ludhiana and Jalandhar City stations in both directions.
● Okha – Guwahati Parcel Special Train (16 trips)
Train No 00949 Okha – Guwahati parcel special train will leave Okha on 5th, 9th, 12th, 16th, 19th, 23rd, 26th & 30th Aug at 07.15 hrs and will reach Guwahati on the third day at 17.00 hrs. Similarly, Train No 00950 Guwahati – Okha parcel special train will leave Guwahati at 16.00 hrs on 8th, 12th,15th, 19th, 22nd, 26th, 29th Aug, & 2nd Sept, 2020 and will reach Okha at 01.10 hrs on the fourth day. The train will halt at Jamnagar, Rajkot, Surendranagar, Ahmedabad, Anand, Chhayapuri, Ratlam, Kota, Sawai Madhopur, Bayana, Agra Fort, Tundla, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Jn, Patliputra, Muzaffarpur Jn, Katihar, New Bongaigaon and Changsari stations in both directions.
● Porbandar – Shalimar Parcel Special Train (26 trips)
Train No 00913 Porbandar – Shalimar parcel special train will leave Porbandar at 8.00 hrs on 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 17th, 19th, 21st, 24th, 26th, 28th & 31st Aug, 2020 & will reach Shalimar at 04.00 hrs on third day. Similarly, Train No 00914 Shalimar – Porbandar parcel special will leave Shalimar at 22.00 hrs on 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 19th, 21st , 23rd , 26th, 28th & 30th Aug & 2nd Sept, 2020 and will reach Porbandar at 18.25 hrs on third day. The train will halt at Jamnagar, Rajkot, Surendra Nagar, Ahmedabad, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Ankleshwar, Surat, Nandurbar, Bhusaval, Akola, Badnera, Nagpur, Gondia, Durg, Raipur, Bilaspur, Jharsuguda Jn, Rourkela, Chakaradharpur, Tata Nagar, Kharagpur Jn, Panskura and Mecheda stations in both directions.
Thakur stated that since 23rd March to 22nd July, 2020, commodities weighing more than 82 thousand tonnes have been transported by Western Rly through its 417 parcel special trains, which mainly included agricultural produce, medicines, fish, milk and others.
The earnings generated through this transportation, has been Rs 26.10 crore. During this period, 62 milk special trains were run by Western Rly, with a load of more than 46 thousand tonnes and 100% utilization of the wagons, generating revenue of approx Rs 8.07 crore.
Similarly, 342 Covid-19 special parcel trains with a load of approx. 30 thousand tonnes were also run to transport various essential commodities, for which the revenue earned was Rs 15.19 crore. In addition to this, 13 indented rakes carrying 5631 tonnes were also run with almost 100% utilization generating revenue of more than Rs 2.85 crore.
During the lockdown period from 22nd March till 22nd July, 2020, total 9909 rakes of goods trains have been used by WR to supply essential commodities amounting to 20.15 million tonnes. 19,416 freight trains have been interchanged with other zonal railways, in which 9707 trains were handed over and 9709 trains taken over at different interchange points.
The total loss of earnings over Western Railway on account of Corona Virus, has been more than Rs 1837 crore, which includes about Rs 271 crore for suburban section and approx.. Rs 1566 crore for non -suburban.
Inspite of this, resulting to cancellation of tickets since 1st March’2020 to 22nd July, 2020, Western Railway has ensured to return refund amount of Rs. 401.44 crore. It’s worth mentioning that in this refund amount, Mumbai division alone, has ensured refund of Rs 192.06 crore.
Till now, 61.68 lakh passengers have cancelled their tickets over entire Western Railway & have received their refund amount accordingly.