Indian Railways introduces 109 Time tabled parcel trains over 58 routes to connect all the important centers

New Delhi: In a major boost to the supply chain across the country, Indian Railways has introduced unhindered services of Time tabled Parcel Trains for nationwide transportation of essential commodities and other goods. This is expected to boost the availability of vital goods required for ordinary citizens, industry and agriculture.

Approximately, 58 routes (109 trains) for Parcel Special Trains have been notified since the start of the lock-down. Till 5th April 2020, 27 routes were notified, out of which 17 routes were regular scheduled services, while the remaining were for single trip only. Subsequently, 40 new routes have been identified and notified (and frequency of some of the previous routes has been increased). With this almost all the important cities of India will get connected for transportation of vital goods at a fast speed. It may be noted that these services are expected to be further scaled up.

Time Tabled Parcel Trains are planned as per the demand of the customers. Time tabled Parcel trains connect vital corridors of the country viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. In addition, proper connectivity has also been ensured to Guwahati, to ensure supplies in the North-eastern region of the country.

Other important cities connected via these trains are Bhopal, Allahabad, Dehradun, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Ranchi, Gorakhpur, Thiruvananthapuram, Salem, Warangal, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatanam, Rourkela, Bilaspur, Bhusawal, Tatanagar, Jaipur, Jhansi, Agra, Nasik, Nagpur, Akola, Jalgaon, Surat, Pune, Raipur, Patna, Asansol, Kanpur, Jaipur, Bikaner, Ajmer, Gwalior, Mathura, Nellore, Jabalpur, etc.

Indian Railways has also been running other Parcel trains as per demand of customers during this period – which include:

a) ‘Milk Specials’ from Palanpur (Gujarat) to Palwal (near Delhi), and from Renigunta (AP) to Delhi

b) Milk products from Kankariya (Gujarat) to Kanpur (UP) and Sankrail (near Kolkata)

c) Food products from Moga (Punjab) to Changsari (Assam)

Time Tabled Parcel Trains are being run even on those routes where demand is less, so that no part of the country remains unconnected. Some trains are being run with only 2 Parcel Vans, or with 1 Parcel Van and Brake Van.

These Parcel Trains introduced in wake of COVID-19 pandemic over different zones are as under:

S.No.	Zone	Pairs of Parcel Special Trains
1	WR	12 pairs
2	CR	07 pairs
3	WCR	05 pairs
4	NR	08 pairs
5	NWR	01 pair
6	SR/SWR	10 pairs
7	SCR	05 pairs
8	SER	03 pairs
9	SECR	04 pairs
10	NCR	01 pair
11	ECoR	02 pairs
12	NER	01 pair
13	ER	07 pairs
14	ECR	01 pair

(This information is till the morning of 8th April, and is likely to be revised upwards regularly.)

LIST OF ROUTES

S.No.		FROM		TO		Parcel Train No.
		CENTRAL RAILWAY
1		Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus		Nagpur		00109
		Nagpur		Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus		00110
2		Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus		Wadi		00111
		Wadi		Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus		00112
3		Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus		Shalimar		00113
		Shalimar		Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus		00114
4		Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus		Madras		00115
		Madras		Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus		00116
5		Changsari		Kalyan		00104
		EASTERN RAILWAY
1		Howrah		New Delhi		00309
		New Delhi		Howrah		00310
2		Sealdah		New Delhi		00311
		New Delhi		Sealdah		00312
3		Sealdah		Guwahati		00313
		Guwahati		Sealdah		00314
4		Howrah		Guwahati		00303
		Guwahati		Howrah		00304
5		Howrah		Jamalpur		00305
		Jamalpur		Howrah		00306
6		Sealdah		Malda Town		00315
		Malda Town		Sealdah		00316
7		Howrah		Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus		00307
		Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus		Howrah		00308
		EAST CENTRAL RAILWAY
1		Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction		Saharsa		00302
		Saharsa		Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction		00301
		EAST COAST RAILWAY
1		Visakhapatnam		Cuttack		00532
		Cuttack		Visakhapatnam		00531
2		Visakhapatnam		Sambalpur		00530
		Sambalpur		Visakhapatnam		00529
		NORTHERN RAILWAY
1		New Delhi		Guwahati		00402
		Guwahati		New Delhi		00401
2		Amritsar		Howrah		00464
		Howrah		Amritsar		00463
3		Delhi		Jammu Tawi		00403
		Jammu Tawi		Delhi		00404
4		Kalka		Ambala		00454
		Ambala		Kalka		00453
5		Dehradun		Delhi		00434
		Delhi		Dehradun		00433
		NORTH CENTRAL RAILWAY
1		Prayagraj		Jhansi		00436
		Jhansi		Prayagraj		00435
		NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY
1		Manduadih		Kathgodam		00501
		Kathgodam		Manduadih		00502
		NORTH EAST FRONTIER RAILWAY
1		New Guwahati		Agartala
		NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY
1		Jaipur-Rewari-Jodhpur-Ahmedabad-Jaipur				00951
2		Jaipur-Ahmedabad-Jodhpur-Rewari-Jaipur				00952
		SOUTHERN RAILWAY
1		Madras		New Delhi		00646
		New Delhi		Madras		00647
2		Madras		Coimbatore		00653
		Coimbatore		Madras		00654
3		Chennai Egmore		Nagercoil		00657
		Nagercoil		Chennai Egmore		00658
4		Thiruvananthapuram		Kozhikode		00655
		Kozhikode		Thiruvananthapuram		00656
		SOUTH CENTRAL RAILWAY
1		Secundrabad		Howrah
		Howrah		Secundrabad
2		Renigunta		Secundrabad		00769
		Secundrabad		Renigunta		00770
3		Renigunta		Secundrabad		00767
		Secundrabad		Renigunta		00768
4		Kakinada		Secundrabad		00765
		Secundrabad		Kakinada		00766
5		Renigunta		Nizamuddin		00761 (MILK)
		SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY
1		Shalimar		Ranchi		00801
		Ranchi		Shalimar		00802
2		Shalimar		Changsari		00803
		Changsari		Shalimar		00804
		SOUTH EAST CENTRAL RAILWAY
1		Durg		Chhapra		00875
		Chhapra		Durg		00876
2		Durg		Ambikapur		00873
		Ambikapur		Durg		00874
3		Durg		Korba		00871
		Korba		DURG		00872
4		Itwari		TATA		00881
		Tata		Itwari		00882
SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY
1	Yesvantpur		Gorakhpur		00607
	Gorakhpur		Yesvantpur		00608
2	Yesvantpur		Nizamuddin		00605
	Nizamuddin		Yesvantpur		00606
3	Yesvantpur		Howrah		00603
	Howrah		Yesvantpur		00604
4	Guwahati		Yesvantpur		00610

WESTERN RAILWAY
1	Bandra Terminus		Ludhiana		00901
	Ludhiana		Bandra Terminus		00902
2	Madras		Kankaria		00908
3	Ahmedabad		Guwahati		00915
	Guwahati		Ahmedabad		00916
4	Surat		Bhagalpur		00917
	Bhagalpur		Surat		00918
5	Mumbai Central		Ferozpur		00911
	Ferozpur		Mumbai Central		00912
6	Porbandar		Shalimar		00913
	Shalimar		Porbandar		00914
7	Linch		Salchapra		00909
	Salchapra		Linch		00910
8	Bhuj		Dadar		00924
	Dadar		Bhuj		00925
9	Bandra Terminus		Okha		00921
	Okha		Bandra Terminus		00920

WEST CENTRAL RAILWAY
1	Bhopal		Gwalior
	Gwalior		Bhopal
2	Itarsi		Bina
	Bina		Itarsi
3	Bhopal		Khandwa
	Khandwa		Bhopal
4	Rewa		Anooppur
	Anooppur		Rewa
5	Rewa		Singrauli
	Singrauli		Rewa

Total Routes: 58

So far, approximately 32 pairs of parcel special have been notified as inter-Railway (long distance), while the remaining are intra-Railway (short distance).

Some of the longer routes for these Parcel Special trains are:

1) Kalyan – Santragachi

2) Kalyan – Changsari

3) New Delhi – Chennai

4) Salem – Bhatinda

5) Salem – Hisar

5) Yeswanthpur – Hazrat Nizamuddin

6) Yeswanthpur – Howrah

7) Yeswanthpur – Gorakhpur

8) Yeswanthpur – Guwahati

9) Ahmedabad – Guwahati

10) Karambeli – Changsari

11) Kankariya – Sankrail

The facility of transporting parcels through these trains can be availed by any person or company. As per the available trends, following goods are being transported across the length and breadth of the country:

Perishables (including eggs, fruits, vegetables, fish)
Medicines, medical equipment, masks

iii. Milk and Dairy products

Seeds (for agricultural use)
Other general goods such as E-Commerce consignments, packaged food items, books, stationary, packing material, etc

Trains have been given en-route stoppages at all feasible locations, so that maximum possible clearance of parcels may be done. Zonal Railways are publishing the time-tables of these trains in leading newspapers. In addition, regular customers and government agencies are also being contacted.