BENGALURU: South Western Railways will cross a huge milestone on Saturday when its first timetabled freight train rolls out of the Whitefield Satellite Goods Terminal to Shalimar station in West Bengal. Customers have been allowed to book individual wagons on this weekly train, which will run on an increased speed of 40 kmph instead of the usual 25 kmph.
The train will depart at 5 pm every Saturday from the satellite terminal and reach Shalimar 48 hours later. In the return direction, it will depart at 4 pm on Tuesdays. Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (Bengaluru) A N Krishna Reddy said “This will be the first time that those dispatching parcels will be able to book only a wagon in this rake comprising 42 wagons.
We had been permitting booking of a complete train so far.” A wagon can carry a capacity of 60,000 kg (60 tonnes). “This will benefit those opting for road transport as freight transport by trains is 40% cheaper since it costs an average of Rs 2,500 per tonne,” he said. Indian Railways began running freight trains on a pilot basis on a few routes in the country from July 25 this year.