Lockdown: Railways runs 2067 parcel trains so far, generates nearly Rs 20 cr revenue

New Delhi, May 6 () The Railways on Wednesday said it has carried 54,292 tonnes of consignment in 2,067 special parcel trains during the ongoing lockdown period, generating a revenue of Rs 19.77 crore.

Railway zones are regularly identifying and notifying routes for these trains and presently, they are being operated on 82 routes.

These routes include major cities of the country, like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. These trains are also connecting state capitals with important cities within the the state, besides ensuring connectivity to the North-eastern part of the country.

The parcel service is also supplying milk and dairy products from surplus regions (such as Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh) to high-demand regions, besides moving other essentials items (agricultural inputs, medicines, medical equipment, etc) from producing regions to other parts of the country, the Railways said.

"This enhanced running of parcel trains of the Railways is to be seen in the context to ramping up the freight operations in the country by making efforts to make it faster, customised and profitable for all," it said.

Sixty-six parcel special trains were run on May 5 out of which 65 were time-tabled trains. As much as 1,936 tonnes of material was loaded, giving an earning of Rs 57.14 lakh to the Railways.

Till May 5, 2,067 parcel trains have been run out of which 1,988 have been time-tabled trains. As much as 54,292 tonnes of consignment have been loaded, and the earnings have been Rs 19.77 crore, the Railways said. ASG TIRTIR