Central Railway transports over 61,000 tonnes of packages since lockdown

The Central Railway managed to dispatch over 61,000 tonnes of packages such as perishable food products and medicines during the period when the nation was under COVID-19 lockdown.

It operated freight and parcel trains during the lockdown that was announced on March 24, although passenger train services were halted for about two from March. It transported 61,978 tonnes of parcel till September 10 since the day the lockdown was announced by prime minister Narendra Modi.

The Central Railway transported 38,618 tonnes in parcel trains, 19,290 tonnes in parcel vans of special trains that were introduced from June 1, 2,266 tonnes through the farmer rail introduced on August 7 and 1,804 tonnes through milk containers, Zee News reported.

The Central Railway said express goods trains that were introduced to limit the disruption caused to supply of essential items ensured fast transport of such items.

The Central Railway operated 465 parcel trains, which transported 38,618 tonnes of essential commodities such as perishable goods, pharma products/medicines and e-commerce products till September 10, Zee News reported. The Railways has decided to continue operating these express trains till December 31.

The Railways announced special trains from June 1 to transport passengers. The Central Railway sent 19,290 tonnes of parcels through such special trains, it said.

The Central Railway said that the first-ever Kisan Rail in India running in its jurisdiction between Devlali and Danapur in Bihar has received a good response. The weekly train service was started on August 7 to help farmers transport their goods to far-off areas. Over 2,200 tonnes of farm produce have been transported through this rail service, the Central Railway said.

Due to the encouraging response, the service has been extended to Muzaffarpur and Sangola/Pune to Manmad, it said. Also, from September 8, the frequency of the service has been increased to thrice a week, it said.