As part of the Rail-Post cargo service, an AC train with chocolates will leave Tirupati today.
On Thursday, two AC-2 tier coaches carrying chocolates from Cadbury’s factory in Sri City, in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, will leave for Delhi. This is part of a new effort by Indian Railways to find new ways to use its resources to make money.
Railways has started transporting chocolates in its air-conditioned coaches so that they don’t melt. This is a new way for them to use their space. Railways wants to help Mondelez, which owns Cadbury and has factories in Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh and ships goods all over the country, get where it needs to go.
Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw put together the resources of the Railways and India Post to make the Rail-Post Gati Shakti Express Cargo Service, which is a new way to send packages on time.
Under the service, the Department of Post will book parcels, and the Railways will transport them in their parcel trains with a guaranteed transit time. Once the package gets to its destination, the post office will take it to the last-mile destinations.
After the service starts in Tirupati (Sri City), it will also be offered in Secunderabad, Surat, Bengaluru, and Delhi in due time. Under the service, the Railways will run 12 sets of trains each week to move things that usually go on trucks.
Policymakers have decided that it would be a good thing for businesses to no longer have to use trains to move large amounts of goods. So, Railways has come up with a number of plans to also carry smaller amounts. Also, at the division and zone levels, separate, dedicated units are being set up to make it easier for businesses to talk to Railways about their parcel needs.
The Railway Ministry has told all of its zones and levels to handle parcel business with the utmost care and keep getting new things to ship, even if they are “non-bulk” or less than a truck’s worth.
