Central Railway has increased automobile loading by 166% in February 2021 as compared to the same month in 2020.
The zone loaded 32 rakes in February 2021, an increase of 20 rakes from 12 loaded in February 2020. Similarly, in the current financial year April 2020 to February 2021, CR loaded 246 rakes with automobiles as against 118 loaded in the corresponding period of FY 2019-20. This is an increase of 146% over last year.
Despite the pandemic, operations were scaled up and the rakes were dispatched to various parts of India. Some rakes were also sent to Bangladesh, according to a statement released by Central Railway.
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The zone has developed loading facilities for transportation of automobiles at in various divisions. They are:
- Mumbai Division: Kalamboli near Panvel
- Bhusawal Division: Nashik Road
- Pune Division: Chinchwad station
- Solapur Division: Bale station
- Nagpur Division: Ajni station
Scrambling to fill the void left by the lockdown in the first few months of FY 2020-21, Indian Railways ordered all zones and their divisions to set up Business Development Units.
According to Central Railway, the zone’s BDUs reached out to various industries during the past year. One-to-one meetings were conducted with major automobile industries such as M/s Mahindra & Mahindra, M/s Tata Motors M/s Maruti Udyog for transportation of vehicles from their factories to consumption centres.
The Central Railway workshop at Parel has developed a prototype coach for carrying automobiles for easier loading of automobiles and increased speed potential using feedback provided by vehicle manufacturers.