In a major boost to supply chain across the country, the Indian Railways has for the first time introduced time-tabled parcel trains for nationwide transportation of essential commodities and other goods, the national transporter said on Wednesday, identifying 40 new routes for such vans.
This move by the Centre is expected to boost the availability of vital goods required for ordinary citizens, industry and agriculture during the 21-day lockdown nationwide. “Approximately, 58 routes (109 trains) for Parcel Special Trains have been notified since the start of the lock-down. Till April 5, 2020, 27 routes were notified, out of which 17 routes were regular scheduled services, while the remaining were for single trip only,” the railways said. Subsequently, 40 new routes have been identified and notified (and frequency of some of the previous routes has been increased), it added.
These trains will 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.

The railways said that local industries, e-commerce companies, interested groups, individuals and any other prospective loaders can book parcels on these trains.

Time-tabled parcel trains are planned as per the demand of the customers. They connect vital corridors of the country like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. In addition, proper connectivity has also been ensured to Guwahati to ensure supplies in the Northeastern region of the country.

Other important cities connected via these trains are Bhopal, Allahabad, Dehradun, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Ranchi, Gorakhpur, Thiruvananthapuram, Salem, Warangal, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam, Rourkela, Bilaspur, Bhusawal, Tatanagar, Jaipur, Jhansi, Agra, Nasik, Nagpur, Akola, Jalgaon, Surat, Pune, Raipur, Patna, Asansol, Kanpur, Jaipur, Bikaner, Ajmer, Gwalior, Mathura, Nellore, Jabalpur.

The Indian Railways has also been running other parcel trains as per demand of customers during this period, which include ‘Milk Specials’ from Palanpur (Gujarat) to Palwal (near Delhi), and from Renigunta (AP) to Delhi, milk products from Kankariya (Gujarat) to Kanpur (UP) and Sankrail (near Kolkata) and 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 two parcel vans, or with one parcel van and brake van,” the railways said.

The parcel express trains will move to the two stations in Assam and Meghalaya for ensuring the supply of essential goods.

It will start around 10.20 am from Guwahati on Sunday, and it will arrive at Dhudnoi at 1.25 pm. On the same day, the train will arrive at Mendipathar at 2.40 pm.

The return journey of the parcel express train will start from Mendipathar at 1 pm on Monday and will arrive at Dudhnoi at 2.15 pm and Guwahati at 5.20 pm.

The parcel booking for this train will remain open from 10 am to 6 pm on Fridays for the Guwahati-Mendipathar portion, and 10 am of April 11 to 6 pm of April 12 for the Mendipathar-Guwahati route.

Another parcel express train will move to Dibrugarh on Monday from Guwahati. The train will start around 7 am with 15-minute stops at Hojai, Lumding junction, Diphu, Dimapur, Sarupathar, Furkating junction, Mariani junction, Simaluguri junction and New Tinsukia during its journey for loading and unloading of items.

Before reaching to Dibrugarh at 10.40 pm, the train will start from Lumding at 11.45 am, Dimapur at 1.30 pm, Mariani at 5.25 pm, New Tinsukia at 9.25 pm.