South Central Railway announces Indian Railways' first 'Cargo Express'

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], July 22 (ANI): The South Central Railway on Tuesday announced the commencement of first 'Cargo Express', a timetabled goods train between Hyderabad and New Delhi which will even transport non-bulk commodities.
As part of the initiative to increase the market share of railways in the movement of general cargo across the nation, South Central has come with a unique concept of starting a 'Cargo Express'. Under this, a timetabled freight train is being started from Sanath Nagar in Hyderabad to Adarsh Nagar in New Delhi starting from August 5, said Public Relation Officer in a press release.
SCR has taken this as a pilot project for a period of six months and would be running the "Cargo Express" once a week every Wednesday, as per the release.
Accordingly, a unique concept of aggregating this general cargo into a single train is planned which could be mutually beneficial to both railways as well the freight customers. Because not only is transportation by the railways one of the safest modes of transportation, it is also cost-effective compared to other modes of transport as well, it added.
The average freight tariff from Hyderabad to Delhi and vice-versa is Rs 2,500 per tonne, depending on the type of commodity loaded. It is almost 40 per cent lesser than charges applicable by road and also the existing railway parcel tariff, read the release.
Gajanan Mallya, General Manager stated that South Central Railway has always been a step forward in introducing customer-friendly initiatives for the freight segment and introduction of Cargo Express will further strengthen these initiatives.
He also said, "The concept will be particularly beneficial to agriculture producers, traders, cargo movers, small and medium/ mini plant owners who will be able to move their cargo in record transit time at very low tariffs."
"Since both the originating and destination stations nominated are major cities, it would be beneficial to the huge number of customers in and around these cities," he added. (ANI)