AJMER JN

प्रेस विज्ञप्ति/ Press Release No. 73 Dt:8.05.2020

                                                                                    Chief Public Relations Officer

                                                                              South Western Railway, Hubballi

WR Press Release No. 2020/05Mumbai, 6^th May, 2020

WESTERN RLY TO RUN TWO MORE PARCEL SPECIAL TRAINS WITH 2 TRIPS EACH BETWEEN KANKARIA – CUTTACK & PALANPUR – SANKRAIL GOODS TERMINAL

Western Railway’s Parcel Special trains are o­n the move, as per the timetable, during the lockdown period in the wake of COVID19. Western Railway has taken the responsibility of transporting essential items like medical equipments, medicines food grains etc across the nation, as ithas always been fully committed to the needs of its customers. WR is also ensuring the supply of milk and milk products to different parts of the country through its milk special trains. In continuation to this, 4 more trips of 2 parcel special trains are scheduled to run between Kankariya – Cuttack and Palanpur – Sankrail Goods Terminal.

According to a press release issued by Shri Ravinder Bhakar - Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Rly, two more parcel special trains with 2 trips each have been scheduled to run by Western Rly, o­ne between Kankaria in Ahmedabad &Cuttack in Orissa and another between Palanpur of Gujarat &Sankrail Goods Terminal of West Bengal. The details of theseparcel special trains are as follows:-

●Kankaria – Cuttack parcel special train (2 trips)

Train No 00941 Kankaria – Cuttack parcel special train will leave Kankaria at 18.30 hrs o­n 8^thMay 2020 to reach Cuttack at 02.30 hrs o­n 10^th May 2020. Similarly, Train No 00942 Cuttack – Kankaria parcel special train will leave Cuttack at 19.30 hrs o­n 11^th May 2020 to reach Kankaria at 03.15 hrs o­n 13^thMay, 2020. The train will halt at Anand, Ratlam, Ujjain, Sant Hirdaram Nagar, Bina, Katni Murwara, Bilaspur, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur City and Talcher Rd stations in both directions.

●Palanpur – Sankrail Goods Terminal parcel special train ( 2 trips)

Train No 00945 Palanpur – Sankrail Goods Terminal special parcel train will leave Palanpur at 23.00 hrs o­n 9^th May 2020 to reach Sankrail Goods Terminal o­n 11^thMay 2020 at 08.35 hrs. Similarly, train No 00946 Sankrail Goods Terminal will leave Sankrail Goods terminal at 00.50 hrs o­n 13^th May 2020 to reach Palanpur the next day at 10.45 hrs. The train will halt at Abu Road, Marwar Jn, Ajmer Jn, Phulera Jn, Jaipur, Yamuna Bridge, Prayagraj Jn, Pt Deen Dayal Upadyaya, Gaya, Gomoh Jn and Asansol stations in both directions.

Shri Bhakar stated that, during the lockdown period from 22^nd March to 5^th May, 2020, total 3091 rakes of goods trains have been used to supply essential commodities amounting to 6.77 million tonnes. 6381 freight trains were interchanged with other railways, including 3214 trains handed over and 3167 trains taken over at different interchange points.168Millennium Parcel rakes of Parcel Vans/Railway Milk Tankers (RMTs) have been sent to different parts of the country to cope with the demands of essential items such as milk powder, liquid milk , medical supplies and other general consumer goods. Since 23^rdMarch to 5^th May 2020, commodities weighing more than 26000 tonnes have been transported by Western Rly through its various parcel special trains, which included agricultural produce, medicines, fish, milk etc. The earnings generated through this transportation, has been approx Rs 7.76 crore. In this, twenty two milk special trains were run by Western Rly, with a load of approx 16000 tonnes and 100% utilization of the wagons, generating revenue of approx Rs 2.74 crore. Similarly, 140 Covid-19 special parcel trains were also run to transport essential commodities, for which the revenue earned was approx Rs 4.24 crore. In addition to this, 4 indented rakes were also run with 100% utilization for earnings of approximately 78 lakh.

Shri Bhakar informed that three parcel special trains left from WR for various parts of the country o­n 6^th May, 2020 viz.Bandra Terminus – Ludhiana,Bhuj – Dadar and Porbandar - Shalimar parcel special trains. He stated that the total loss of earnings over Western Railway has been Rs 731.58 crore o­n account of lockdown (inclusive of suburban + non-suburban). Inspite of this, due to cancellation of tickets till now, Western Railway has ensured to refund amount of Rs 237.77 crore. It's also worth mentioning that in this refund amount, Mumbai division alone, has ensured refund of Rs 114.93 crore. Till now, 37.20 lakh passengers have cancelled their tickets over entire Western Railway & have received their refund amount accordingly. It is worth mentioning that upto 5^th May, 2020 almost 1.5 lakh masks and approx 15000 liters of sanitizers were made inhouse at various divisions and workshops of WR during lockdown period.

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