TAPRI

Southern Railway introduced Parcel Cargo Express Train (PCET) o­n 1^stApril, 2020 to enable seamless transportation of essential commodities.  Presently, daily Parcel Cargo Special trains are operated between Chennai Egmore – Thiruvananthapuram, Dr MGR Chennai Central - Shoranur, Thiruvananthapuram – Kozhikkode and Dr MGR Chennai Central – New Delhi.  Owing to patronage, the services of Parcel Cargo Express trains run by Southern Railway have been extended upto 31^st May, 2020. 

Using these services Southern Railway has transported from 24th March, 2020 till 18th May, 2020 various commodities totaling a weight of 6155  tonnes. The majority of them being farm products weighing 2294.04 tonnes and food items weighing 1271 tonnes.  Vegetables and fruits weighing 84.55 tonnes and 103.46 tonnes respectively, were transported during the period.  Along with these 52.38 tonnes of postal materials were despatched through RMS (Rail Mail service) .  Apart from these, o­n-demand parcel train services were operated to Punjab (2 trips to Bathinda) and Haryana (2 trips to Hisar) and transported 1867 tonnes of cotton seeds aiding agricultural activities in the country.  The transportation of 1.15 lakh litres of milk (in tetrapacks of each 1 litre) from Salem to Dimapur in Assam deserves special mention. 

These parcel cargo express train have gained patronage amongst traders wanting to transport essential commodities.  SETU 24*7 helpline numbers of various divisions for assistance to Traders/farmers/Logistics and Cargo Operators desirous of booking various commodities is given below :

Chennai –                 9444282223 or 9003061980

Palakkad –               9746763953

Trivandrum –          9746769951

Tiruchchirappalli – 9003864953

Madurai –               9003862953

Salem –                   9003956951

Railway Helpline 138 can be accessed for all Divisions. 

WR Press Release No. 2020/04Mumbai, 23^rd April, 2020

WR TO RUN 2 TRIPS OF o­nE MORE TIMETABLED TRAIN BETWEEN PALANPUR AND FATUHA

In this lockdown period in wake of COVID-19,Western Railway is o­n the move and has taken the responsibility of transporting ‘Essential Supplies’ to various parts across the country. In this hour of need, essential commodities such as Medical Equipment, Medicines, Food Items, Amul Products, Milk, Face Masks, Sanitizers etc. are promptly transported through WR's time tabled COVID-19 Special Parcel Trains. In continuation to this, o­ne more timetabled parcel special train has been scheduled to run between Palanpur and Fatuha.

According to a press release issued by Shri Ravinder Bhakar - Western Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer, WR is contributing in a big way through supply of medical goods. During 23^rd March to 22^nd April, 2020, medicines along with medical goods, such as masks, sanitizers, PPE , surgical goods etc weighing more than 610 tonnes were transported generating earnings of Rs 20.56 lakhs. Ahmedabad division of WR has been a major contributor towards the transportation through the parcel special trains. Since 25^th March to 22^nd April, 2020, Ahmedabad division has transported more than 3800 tonnes of Amul products in 9 parcel cargo express trains and above 10000 tonnes of milk were sent by 231 Railway Milk Tankers. Moreover, after introducing Inter / Intra Railway Special Parcel Trains from 1^stApril,2020, other essential commodities were also transported. Accordingly, 67.32 tonnes of Medicines, 149.73 tonnes of Medical Goods which includes Masks, Sanitizer, Surgical Goods, Gloves, etc., 13.03 tonnes of Agricultural Produce, 10.43 tonne of Fish and 27.09 tonne of other miscellaneous goods werealso loaded and dispatched through 73 trips of Inter/Intra Railway Parcel Trains.It is also worth mentioning that other medicines for chronic diseases such as Cancer, Heart disease, Diabetes, Arthritis, etc. are also being booked & transported. This facility of transportation is not just limited to regular parcel customers & leaseholders, but to individuals also. All precautions are being taken at the time of booking, loading and unloading of parcels. All staff are being provided with suitable safety equipments, so as not to be a hazard for others in any way.

Shri Bhakar further stated that, o­ne more parcel special train with two trips has been planned to run by WR between Palanpur and Fatuha. Train No 00943 Palanpur - Fatuha parcel special train will depart from Palanpur o­n 25^thApril, 2020 at 23.00 hrs to reach Fatuha at 01.50 hrs o­n the third day. Similarly, Train No 00944 Fatuha – Palanpur parcel special train will depart from Fatuha o­n 27^th April, 2020 at 13.30 hrs to reach Palanpur at 17.15 hrs the next day. This train will halt at Abu Road, Marwar Jn., Ajmer Jn, Phulera Jn,Jaipur Jn, Yamuna Bridge Agra, Prayagraj Jn, Varanasi, Pt Deen Dayal Upadhya Jn. and Danapur stations in both directions.

Shri Bhakar statedthat since 23^rd March to 22^nd April, 2020, fifteen milk special trains were run by Western Rly, with a load of more than 10000 tonnes and 100% utilization of the wagons generating revenue of Rs 1.84 crore. Similarly, 74 Covid-19 special parcel trains were also run during this period to transport essential commodities, for which the revenue earned was Rs 2.48 crore. In addition to this, 4 indented rakes carrying 1864 tonnes were also run with 100% utilization generating revenue of more than Rs 77 lakh. Such tremendous loading has been possible due to constant efforts by all concerned teams of WR. Shri Bhakar further said four parcel special trains left from WR to various parts of the country o­n 23^rdApril, 2020 viz.Mumbai Central – Firozpur, Dadar – Bhuj, Ahmedabad - Guwahati and Rajkot - Coimbatore. During the lockdown period from 22^nd March to 22^nd April, 2020, total 2043 rakes of goods trains have been used by WR to supply essential commodities amounting to 4.41 million tonnes. 4287 freight trains were interchanged with other railways, including 2158 trains handed over and 2129 trains taken over at different interchange points.  93 Millennium Parcel rakes of Parcel Vans/Railway Milk Tankers (RMTs) have been sent to different parts of the country to supply as per the demands of essential items such as milk powder, liquid milk and other general consumer goods. The total losses over Western Railway up to 22^ndApril, 2020 have been estimated as Rs 530.95 Cr (inclusive of suburban + non-suburban). Inspite of this, Western Railway has ensured to refund Rs. 204.03 crore due to cancellation of tickets till now. It's worth mentioning that in this refund amount, Mumbai Division itself, has ensured refund of Rs. 99.48 crore. Till now, 32.26 lakh passengers have cancelled their tickets over entire Western Railway & have received their refund amount accordingly. Upto 22^nd April, 2020 almost 1.25 lakh masks and above 11,000 liters of sanitizers were made inhouse at various divisions and workshops of WR during the lockdown period.

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