Railway Minister Eyes Bigger Share of Parcel Business, Meets Logistics and Courier Service Providers

Eyeing a bigger chunk of the parcel freight business for the Indian Railways, minister Piyush Goyal met people from the courier and logistics industry to explore possibilities.

A joint working group is to be set up with the representatives from the industry and Indian Railways officials to formulate guidelines and ensure ease of doing business for the private sector participants.

The meeting was held to identify ways in which the Indian Railways could increase its share of the parcel logistics market – mainly dominated by road and air transport.

The minister said win-win solutions were needed for sustainable business development for everyone, according to a statement released by the railway ministry.

Indian Railways is pitching its ability to provide ‘fast, affordable and easy to handle parcel services’ to logistics providers who depend on other transport mediums to meet their current needs, the statement says.

Indian Railways’ Parcel Train And Freight Loading Statistics Till August 2020

Starting from the lockdown imposed in March 2020, a total of 5,292 Parcel trains have been run by Indian Railways till 02.09.2020. Out of these, 5,139 trains were operated on timetables.

Over 3.18 lakh tons of consignments have been transported earning Rs. 116.19 crores for the Indian Railways.

After sharp declines in April and May, Indian Railways has gradually improved freight loading in June, July and August, but with a modified basket of goods carried.

Freight loading for the month of August 2020 was 94.33 million tons. This surpasses the freight carried in the same month in 2019. During the lockdown period, over 1.14 lakh rakes with 451.38 million tons of freight were loaded by Indian Railways till 1st September 2020.

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