DAHANU ROAD

WESTERN RAILWAY ACHIEVES VARIOUS MILESTONES IN FREIGHT LOADING IN THE YEAR 2020 - 21

WR ACHIEVES FREIGHT LOADING OF 80.72 MT INSPITE OF CORONA PANDEMIC

IT IS 4.7% MORE THAN THE LAST FINANCIAL YEAR i.e. 2019 - 20

THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF ESSENTIAL GOODS WAS KEPT UNHINDERED

DURING THE LOCKDOWN PERIOD

Photo Caption: Views of loading in Goods as well as Parcel Special trains over Western railway

Western Railway's goods & parcel special trains have been traversing across the country to keep the supply of essential commodities moving, even during the difficult time of the COVID pandemic. Inspite of various hurdles and constraints during the times of lockdown, Western Railway has accomplished various milestones in freight loading. Due to the sustained efforts, WR has been able to achieve freight loading of 80.72 MT in financial year 2020-21 which is 4.7% more than last year of 77.06 MT. This feat was made possible due to the able guidance of & continuous monitoring by Shri Alok Kansal - General Manager of Western Railway. Shri Kansal congratulated team WR o­n achieving this feat inspite of all odds and adverse conditions.

According to a press release issued by Shri Sumit Thakur- Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway,it has been a year now since the Covid pandemic hit the country, and WR has continued to serve the people and fulfill the its duty to keep the supply chain of essential commodities open. Despite the prevailing COVID-19 Pandemic and total lockdown during the period April-May’20 in which WR loaded o­nly 8.84 MT against the previous year loading of 13.10 MT (-32.5%), WR bounced back and surpassed the loading of last financial year.WR has significantly increased its loading in Fertilizers, Cement, Foodgrains, Iron & Steel, Salt & Auto, inspite of a major drop in Coal loading owing to the drastic fall in the Imported Coal.

This increase in momentum has been possible due to various initiatives taken by WR to boost the freight traffic. Western Railway introduced various incentive schemes as per the directives of Ministry of Railways to attract freight transporters in order to tie up with Railways for transportation of their goods & parcels. Additionally, Business Development Units (BDUs) have also been formed at the Headquarter level and over all its Divisions for attracting new traffic and increasing the rail share in the existing stream of traffic. This has enabled in providing best facilities to freight customers and also to increase revenue.

Shri Thakur further stated that during 2020 – 21, commodities weighing more than 3.0 lakh tonnes have been transported by Western Rly through its 1027 parcel special trains, which mainly included agricultural produce, medicines, fish, milk etc. The revenue generated through this transportation, has been approx. Rs 108.96 crore. During this period, 184 milk special trains were run by Western Rly, with a load of more than 1.35 lakh tonnes and 100% utilization of the wagons. Similarly, 627 COVID-19 special parcel trains with a load of more than 81 thousand tonnes were also run to transport various essential commodities. In addition to this, 125 indented rakes carrying more than 57 thousand tonnes were also run with almost 100% utilization. 91 Kisan rails with load of approx. 29 thousand tonnes have been run during the year. The movement of the perishable commodities through Kisan trains is reliable & safe. It helps in smooth, faster & timely transportation of agro products without any loss or damages. The o­nion farmers of Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh have found new market in the eastern & north eastern parts of the country while the Chickoo farmers of Dahanu in Maharashtra have also found it convenient to reach the markets in the north region in a faster & economical manner through these Kisan trains.

It is worth mentioning that during the lockdown period from 22^nd March 2020 till 31^st March, 2021 total 36128 rakes of goods trains have been run by WR to supply essential commodities amounting to 81.93 million tonnes. 74,834 freight trains were interchanged with other zonal railways, in which 37,478 trains were handed over and 37,356 were trains taken over at different interchange points.

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WR Press Release No. 2021/3Mumbai, 23^rd March, 2021

SUPERFAST FESTIVAL SPECIAL TRAIN TO RUN VIA VASAI ROAD BETWEEN TRIVANDRUM & HAZRAT NIZAMUDDIN

CHANGE IN TIMINGS OF UDHNA-MADGAON SUPERFAST SPECIAL

For the convenience of passengers and with a view to meet the travel demand during the festive season, it has been decided to run 2 trips of additional superfast festival special train between Trivandrum and Hazrat Nizamuddin via Vasai Road.Timings of Train No 09067/09068 Udhana – Madgaon Superfast Special Train has been revised over the stations o­n Konkan Railway.

According to a press release issued by Shri Sumit Thakur - Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, the details of the special train is as under:

·Train No.04034/04033 H.Nizamuddin – Thiruvananthapuram Central Superfast Express Special (2 trips)

Train No.04034 H. Nizamuddin – Thiruvananthapuram CentralSpecial will depart from H. Nizamuddin at 05.00 hrs o­n Friday, 26^th March, 2021 and reach Thiruvananthapuram Centralat 04.55 hrs o­n Sunday. Similarly, Train No.04033 Thiruvananthapuram Central– H. Nizamuddin Special will depart Trivandrum at 00.30 hrs o­n Wednesday, 31^st March, 2021 and reach H. Nizamuddin at 22.40 hrs the next day. This train will halt at Mathura, Bharatpur, Sawai Madhopur, Kota, Ratlam, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Dahanu Road, Vasai Road, Panvel, Ratnagiri, Karmali, Madgaon, Karwar, Udupi, Mangalore Jn, Kannur, Kozhikode, Shoranur, Thrisur, Ernakulam Town, Kottayam, Kayankulam and Kollam stations in both directions. The train comprises of AC 2-Tier, AC 3-Tier, Sleeper Class and General Second Class coaches.

·09067/09068Udhna – Madgaon Superfast Special Train o­n Special Fare (2 trips)

Train No. 09067 Udhna – Madgaon Superfast Special Train will leave Udhna at 16.00 hrs o­n Friday i.e. 26^thMarch, 2021 and will reach Madgaon at 09.30 hrs, the next day. Similarly, Train No. 09068 Madgaon – Udhna Superfast Special Train will leave Madgaon at 12.30 hrs o­n Saturday i.e. 27^th March, 2021 and will arrive Udhna at 04.25 hrs, the next day.

The train will halt at Navsari, Valsad, Vapi, Vasai Road, Panvel, Roha, Mangaon, Khed, Chiplun, Sangmeshwar, Ratnagiri, Rajapur Road, Vaibhavwadi Road, Kankavali, Sindhudurg, Kudal, Sawantwadi Road, Thivim and Karmali stations in both directions. The train will have AC 3 Tier and Sleeper class coaches.

The booking of Train No.  09067 will open o­n 24^th March, 2021 at nominated PRS counters and IRCTC website. All the above trains will run as fully reserved trains o­n special fare.

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