The Indian Railways will soon launch high-speed freight trains on the Vande Bharat platform. The superfast parcel service is aimed at capturing high-value and time-sensitive cargo consignments presently being moved via other forms of transport.
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Vande Bharat freight trains have been designed for palletised container transportation at a speed of 160 kmph. The 1,800-mm wide rakes with automatic sliding doors would have provisions to load reefer containers for temperature-sensitive cargo, a pneumatically retractable roller floor system with locking facility for easy handling of pallets, and a total payload of 264 tonnes.
In a note issued to General Managers of all Zonal Railways on Tuesday, the Ministry of Railways said the first rake of freight EMU on the Vande Bharat platform would be launched very soon. Based on discussions held with potential customers, the first service would be introduced in the Delhi and Mumbai regions.
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Senior officials across the railway network were advised to initiate talks with potential customers at the Zonal and Divisional level, and identify terminals for launching the services at the earliest. The officials were told to ensure availability of adequate infrastructure to operate the Vande Bharat freight trains and work on the time table in consultation with the Zonal Railways en route.
According to sources in the Indian Railways, special marketing teams would hold consultations with customers and other stakeholders to identify potential routes for operating the superfast freight trains and send a report in a couple of weeks, the sources said, and added that the tariff structure would be finalised by the Railway Board soon.
The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai is expected to roll-out the first freight EMU rake on the Vande Bharat platform in December this year. The ICF had designed and developed the first two rakes of ‘Train18’, which were later named Vande Bharat Express and introduced on the Delhi-Varanasi and Delhi-Katra routes.