BENGALURU: A total of 1.52 tonnes of incense sticks (agarbathis) chugged off from KSR Bengaluru railway station to Visakhapatnam railway station on board the Prashanti Express on Thursday afternoon, the first train to run as a joint venture in South India between India Post and the Railways.
It is only the second railway route in India to be covered under the ‘Joint Parcel Product’ scheme between the Union Government departments. The consignment in 44 boxes departed at 1.40 pm on Train No. 18464 which runs up to Bhubaneswar. Chief Postmaster General, Karnataka Circle, S Rajendra Kumar said, “The first such venture was from Surat to Varanasi with textile products in April this year.”
The crucial part for businesses is the first and last mile connectivity to be provided by India Post by picking and dropping the consignment at the doorsteps of firms. “The customer need not visit the railway station as in the past as we take care of it completely. We are already getting queries from other cities and the service to Raipur in Chhattisgarh will be the next such one,” he said.
Chief Commercial Manager (Passenger Services), SWR, Dr Anup Dayanand Sadhu said the business through India Post opens up a completely new source of revenue for the Railways.
“This is a pilot project. Railways will provide the middle connectivity under the scheme. We charge Rs 5.72 per kg for our service while India Post will charge Rs 6 per kg,” he said. A release from Railways said that a total freight charge of Rs 7,883 was charged for the transportation.