Singaperumal Koil railway station is set to become a busy auto rail hub with the Southern Railway on Tuesday despatching the first consignment of Renault-Nissan cars to Nepal.
Located on the Tambaram-Chengalpattu section, the station is set to become the third automobile rail hub of the Chennai division, after Walajabad and Melpakkam.
A senior official of Southern Railway said that as several automobile companies were located in the Oragadam belt in Kancheepuram district, the Walajabad and Melpakkam railway stations were used for transporting cars through trains.
Similarly, the Chennai division’s Business Development Unit (BDU), as part of its “Hungry For Cargo” mission, bagged the order from Renault-Nissan company to transport 125 cars to Nepal.
The BDU identified Singaperumal Koil railway station to be the best loading point for which 25 new modified goods coaches were made and loading infrastructure work was completed in quick time.
JKTI, a private company, is handling the consignment of the cars to Nepal, covering a distance of 2,244 km at a cost of ₹18.25 lakh.
The cars would be transported by rail from Chennai to Ramgarhwa in Bihar and from there, they would be taken by road to Nepal. Ramgarhwa is the closest point to the Nepal border, the railway official said.
Renault-Nissan had assured the Southern Railway that it would increase the share of railway transport from 20% to 35% in future, the official added.
