360 TEUs Moved Over 422km In Single Operation
The electrically hauled service also aligns with the railways’ efforts to promote greener freight services
Vadodara: Indian Railways on Friday operated its first double-stack long-haul container train from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Mumbai to CONCOR’s gateway container terminal (GCT) at Varnama in Vadodara division, carrying 360 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) 422km in a single operation.The train left JNPT at 7pm on Friday. Railway officials said the operation demonstrated the network’s capacity to handle a much larger volume of containerised freight through a long-haul service.The formation consisted of two double-stack rakes. The leading rake, hauled by locomotive 60311, carried 45+1 containers with a load of 1,817 tonnes. The trailing rake, hauled by locomotive 24690, carried another 45+1 containers weighing 2,105 tonnes.Railway officials said the long-haul double-stack operation would help accelerate container evacuation from JNPT and improve freight movement between ports and inland terminals.The service can also reduce the number of train movements required to transport similar freight volumes, easing the demand for locomotives and container flat wagons.Officials said such operations support more efficient use of available route capacity while cutting freight transit time. The larger carrying capacity of a single train can help lower transportation costs and facilitate quicker container movement.The electrically hauled service also aligns with Indian Railways’ efforts to promote greener freight transportation.
