Parcel Special trains: Indian Railways delivers 468 tonnes of cotton yarn to Bangladesh

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A parcel train containing 468 tonnes of cotton yarn arrived at Benapole in Bangladesh on 13 June. With 20 parcel vans, the train covered a distance of 1700 kilometres after being flagged from the Ambala Cantonment Station on 27 June.

Remarkably, for the first time, the cotton yarn has been sent from India through the rail route to Bangladesh.

*Cost-effective cross border transportation of cotton yarn*

Earlier, the cotton yarn was being sent by road in small quantities, which used to incur huge transportation costs.

Up until now, businessmen around Punjab and Haryana were transporting small quantities of commodities by road to Bangladesh, which was very costly for them.

In fact, during the lockdown, there was a massive halt in the movement of goods by road. It is also important to notice that in order to move the consignment of goods by trains, it is mandatory for farmers and businessmen to mobilise the quantity in bulk

With this development, the Railway division has earned ₹25.69 lakh for carrying 468 tonnes of freight in collaboration with mgX.com, a subsidiary of MGH Group, a Singapore-based shipping conglomerate.

This train, consisting of 20 parcel vans, was flagged off by Vivek Sharma, senior divisional commercial manager, Himanshu Pant, director and CEO of MGH India, and other railway officials.

Each van was loaded with 430 cartons, weighing around 23 tonnes and the total weight carried by the special parcel express was around 468 Tonnes.

*Bulk Mobilisation of cotton yarn: Contribution to Bangladeshi clothing & textile business*

The transportation of consignment of goods by train requires the bulk mobilisation of the cotton yarn. The Indian Railways took the initiative to facilitate the movement of small consignments of up to 500 tonnes in each trip and simultaneously scheduled a special train for Bangladesh.

The consignment will contribute to Bangladesh made clothing and textile business.

MGH will provide end-to-end transportation solutions for cross-border movement of yarn, fabrics and FMCG goods from their respective factories across Ludhiana and Baddi to their buyers’ factories in Bangladesh, including the customs clearance on both sides of the border.

The special Parcel Trains service is an initiative of Indian Railways to boost parcel train traffic during the Covid period.

Transportation of essential items like medical supplies, medical equipment, food, etc in small parcel sizes is a very important item that needed for business as well as consumption purposes.

In order to meet and fulfil this demand, Indian Railways has made railway parcel vans available for quick mass transportation by E-Commerce entities and other customers including State governments.

Currently, Railways is running time-tabled Parcel Special trains on select routes, to ensure an uninterrupted supply of essential items.