Railways begins special parcel trains for timely delivery of goods during COVID-19 crisis

The South Western Railways flagged off the first-ever timetabled parcel express train from Yashwantpur on Wednesday to boost goods supply with timely delivery during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Yashwantpur – Howrah bi-weekly Parcel Special (Train Number 00603), the first timetabled parcel express consisting of five parcel vans, left Yashwantpur at 1 pm on Wednesday.

The train carried about 11000 kg of commodities from Yashwantpur out of which medicine, hatching eggs, watermelon, pepper and other miscellaneous items weighing about 6550 kg were booked on Wednesday. About 4450 kg parcel, booked before March 25, the date from which the train services were stopped due to national lockdown, were also loaded on the train. Enroute, more commodities are expected to be loaded to the train, the railways said in a release.

The trail will make three more trips from Yashwantpur on April 4, 8 and 11. The services of timetabled Parcel Special trains from point to point will be continued till April 14, for transporting essential commodities in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

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The trains are planned to reach the destinations in two different routes to cater to the needs of both en-route users.

One of the main features of the train is that it can be used for small consignments as there is no minimum limit of load/goods to be carried. These parcel service trains are timetabled and parties can track their consignments too.

The booking is from point to point but en-route loading/unloading is permitted based on the requirement of the customer. As the movement of all goods has been exempted from lockdown, all commodities and goods without distinction of essential and non-essential can be booked and moved through rail.
Customer can keep the material at the nearest parcel offices where demand is registered. The railways said industrial houses, interest groups, NGOs and individuals can avail the facility by first registering their demand.