Parcel Trains providing big boost to transportation of essential commodities and other goods in times of lock down due to COVID -19

10 routes for Time Tabled Parcel Trains are planned and tentative 18 new routes are planned for Special Parcel Trains to keep supply chains running

So far, Indian Railways has loaded 30 Special Parcel Trains to various destinations all over the country

Indian Railways has also been running Parcel trains for Milk and Food Products as per demand of customers

Railways all geared up to meet the demands of State Governments for Parcel Trains for short distance movement within the State

Staff Manning these operations braving all challenges in COVID 19 lock down times to ensure citizens don't feel shortage of essential goods.

During the lockdown in the wake of COVID19, Indian Railways is offering its unhindered services of Parcel Trains for nationwide transportation of essential commodities and other goods required to meet the needs of citizens of the nation. Indian Railways is already transporting essential commodities to different parts of the country through freight trains. While these freight operations of Railways are meeting the needs of bulk transportation of essential goods like foodgrains, edible oil, salt, sugar, coal, cement, milk, vegetables & fruits etc, parcel trains are transporting various items that need to be delivered in comparatively smaller quantities.

So far, Indian Railways has loaded 30 Special Parcel Trains to various destinations all over the country, the details as under:

S.No.	Origin	Destination	Commodity
1	Palanpur (Gujarat)	Palwal (Delhi Region)	Milk
2	Jalgaon	New Guwahati	Miscellaneous Commodities
3	New Tinsukia	Godhani (Nagpur)	Miscellaneous Commodities
4	Karambeli (Gujarat)	New Guwahati	General Goods
5	Dahanu Road (Palghar)	BariBrahman (Jammu)	Dry Grass
6	Kankaria (Ahmedabad)	Bhimsen (Kanpur)	Milk Products
7	Palanpur (Gujarat)	Palwal (Delhi Region)	Milk
8	New Guwahati	Karambeli (Gujarat)	Miscellaneous Products
9	Palanpur (Gujarat)	Palwal (Delhi Region)	Milk
10	Renigunta	Nizamuddin	Milk
11	Palanpur (Gujarat)	Palwal (Delhi Region)	Milk
12	Palanpur(Gujarat)	Palwal (Delhi Region)	Milk
13	Salem	Bathinda	Agri Seeds
14	Moga	Changsari (Guwahati)	Milk Products
15	Kankaria (Ahmedabad)	Sankrail(Howrah)	Milk Powder
16	Dahanu Road (Palghar)	BariBrahman (Jammu)	Dry Grass
17	Bhopal	Gwalior	Fruits
18	Godhani (Nagpur)	New Tinsukia	Miscellaneous Commodity
19	Nangal Dam	Changsari (Guwahati)	FMCG Products
20	Chennai	New Delhi	Miscellaneous Commodity
21	Yeswanthpur	Howrah	Miscellaneous Commodity
22	Bandra Terminus	Ludhiana	Medical Goods/Masks
23	Rewa	Anuppur	Miscellaneous Commodity
24	Bhopal	Khandwa	Miscellaneous Commodity
25	Itarsi	Bina	Miscellaneous Commodity
26	Chennai Egmore	Nagercoil	Medicine and Books
27	Salem	Hisar	Agri Seeds
28	New Delhi	Howrah	Miscellaneous Items
29	Karambeli (Gujarat)	Changsari (Guwahati)	Miscellaneous Items
30	Palanpur (Gujarat)	Palwar (Delhi Region)	Milk

Staff Manning these operations have been braving numerous challenges in COVID 19 lock down times to ensure citizens don't feel shortage of any essential goods.

Encouraged by the outstanding performance of its employees, Zonal Railways have now started running Time tabled Parcel Trains from 31st March, 2020. The Time Tabled Train routes are as under:

S.No.	Origin	Destination	Frequency/ Route
1	Bandra Terminus	Ludhiana	Thrice a week (via Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Delhi)
2	Delhi	Howrah	Twice a week
3	Yeswanthpur	Howrah	Twice a week (via Chennai),
4	Secunderabad	Howrah	weekly
5	Sankrail (Howrah)	Guwahati	weekly
6	Chennai	Delhi	weekly
7	Kankariya  (Ahmedabad)	Sankrail(Howrah)	weekly
8	Kalyan	Sankrail (Howrah)	Weekly (via Nasik, Nagpur, Bilaspur)
9	Kalyan	Changsari	Weekly (via Nasik, Nagpur, Bilaspur)
10	Karambeli	Changsari	weekly

In order to ensure speedy delivery and availability of vital goods and commodities across the nation in the times of Lockdown to fight COVID- 19 , Indian Railway is identifying  routes for other  areas as well. Special Parcel Trains can also be planned as per the demand. Special Parcel trains to connect vital corridors have been identified by Zonal Railways like :

1. New Delhi - Guwahati
2. New Delhi- Mumbai Central
3. New Delhi-Kalyan
4. Chandigarh - Jaipur
5. Moga - Chhangsari
6. Kalyan - New Delhi
7. Nashik - New Delhi
8. Kalyan - Santraghachi
9. Kalyan - Changsari
10. Coimbatore-Patel Nagar (Delhi region)
11. Patel Nagar (Delhi region) – Coimbatore
12. Coimbatore - Rajkot
13. Rajkot- Coimbatore
14. Coimbatore - Jaipur
15. Jaipur- Coimbatore
16. Salem – Batinda
17. Kankari-Ludhiana
18. Sankrail – Bengaluru
19. Any other route as per the demand.

Indian Railways has also been running other Parcel trains as per demand of customers during this period - which include:

a) ‘Milk Specials’ from Palanpur (Gujarat) to Palwal (near Delhi), and from Renigunta (AP) to Delhi

b) Milk products from Kankariya (Gujarat) to Kanpur (UP) and Sankrail (near Kolkata)

c) Food products from Moga (Punjab) to Changsari (Assam)

Zonal Railways have been reaching out and coordinating with State Governments to identify the transportation requirement for short distance within the state. On the request of Madhya Pradesh State Government, West Central Railway has taken an initiative of running 5 Parcel specials within Madhya Pradesh on following routes:

• Bhopal- Gwalior
• Itrasi- Bina
• Bhopal- Khandwa
• Rewa- Anooppur
• Rewa- Singrauli

It may be noted that special Parcel Services of Indian Railways are running with as per the time table.

These timetabled trains are having pre defined scheduled stoppages. Any commodity can be booked in any quantity 'from' or 'to' any of these stations. All efforts are made to move the commodities in an efficient manner for timely delivery of stock.

Local industries, e-commerce companies, any interested groups, organizations, individuals and prospective loaders can also contact Railway officials at zonal level, contact details of Railway officials at various stations have also been circulated and made available so that anyone can contact to load the parcel. Zonal Railways are reaching out prospective clients through various modes of communication including advertisements. 

Courtesy: pib.gov.in