Guwahati: Buoyed by the success of the first ‘Parcel Cargo Express Train’ (PCET) which was introduced between Guwahati and Delhi (via Kolkata) from November, 2013, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has drawn up ambitious plans to increase the number as well as the frequency of such trains in the immediate future.
The PCET between Guwahati and Kolkata / Delhi has completed 11 round trips so far earning revenue of more than Rs 4 crore for the railway. The frequency of this train will be increased to bi-weekly by the end of this month and further to tri-weekly by the end of April, 2014, according to NFR chief public relations officer S Lahiri.
Two more PCETs – one in the New Guwahati – Kolkata – Vijaywada – Chennai – Bangalore circuit and the other in the New Guwahati – Kolkata – Itarsi – Ahmedabad – Kalyan circuit are expected to be started by the end of May, 2014 and June, 2014 respectively.
Both these trains are expected to earn about Rs 50 lakh per trip. NF Railway plans to run about 20 round trips of
these trains per month from June, 2014 onwards.
The NF Railway has been the pioneer among the Zonal Railways in developing the concept of the PCETs as a business tool and this has been done without any additional strain on the resources of the railways as the Parcel Vans being utilised were earlier being returned as empties after bringing commodities into this region.
This has enabled farmers from the far-flung areas of this land-locked region to market their products (like tea, betel nuts, pineapple, jute, horticultural products, cane furniture etc.) at the retail points in Metros like Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Chennai without any restrictions on minimum size and weight of the shipment packets. Acknowledging this commendable effort, the Railway Board has now instructed the other Zonal Railways to replicate this model.