How a new Indian Railways milestone promises cargo handling boost for Jawaharlal Nehru Port
Starting from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai on August 21, the double-stacked train sped along 422km to CONCOR’s Goods Cargo Terminal (GCT) in Gujarat's Vadodara
Starting from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai on August 21, the double-stacked train sped along 422km to CONCOR’s Goods Cargo Terminal (GCT) in Gujarat's Vadodara.
Starting from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai on August 21, the double-stacked train sped along 422km to CONCOR’s Goods Cargo Terminal (GCT) in Gujarat's Vadodara.
Starting from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai on August 21, the double-stacked train sped along 422km to CONCOR’s Goods Cargo Terminal (GCT) in Gujarat's Vadodara.
The Indian Railways on Friday operated its first double-stack long-haul container train, marking a major milestone for India's freight ecosystem.
Starting from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai at about 7 PM on Friday, the train sped along 422km to CONCOR’s Goods Cargo Terminal (GCT) at Varnama in Gujarat's Vadodara via the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC).
The 1,506km double-line electrified WDFC, which connects Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, is dedicated exclusively to freight, allowing trains to run at higher speeds and with greater load-carrying capacity than conventional lines.
The historic operation involved each rake (a set of cargo-carrying rail wagons) led by a locomotive pulling 180 TEUs of double-stacked wagons, with the full two-rake train carrying 360 TEUs of container cargo and measuring 1.3km long.
This is expected to boost container movement from the Mumbai-based port by allowing larger volumes of freight to be transported using a single train.
This reduces the number of train movements required for the same volume of freight, which eases pressure on terminal infrastructure at the port and helps better utilise available railway route capacity.
Railway officials also noted that faster evacuation of containers from the port could also contribute to reducing overall freight transit time and transportation costs due to economies of scale.
Notably, the fact that the electric propulsion train can significantly replace the use of several diesel-powered trucks—that would have otherwise moved the same cargo—also marks a major push for the Indian Railways' green initiatives.
Union railways and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday shared a video of the train, celebrating the major milestone for not just the maritime sector, but also the railways.