Among the Tenets of Philosophy adopted by Indian Railway, “Hungry for Cargo” is one of the main priorities for Western Railway and various efforts initiated with this motto has begun yielding positive results. Continuing with this mission, Western Railway has successfully run 101 Kisan Rail services to destinations across the country. Moving forward with the same motivation, Western Railway also has crossed the milestone of Rs. 8000 Cr in originating revenue on 31st October, 2021. These major feats has been made possible under the visionary leadership of Alok Kansal – General Manager of Western Railway.
According to a press release issued by Sumit Thakur – Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, Kisan Rail services were introduced by Indian Railways for transportation of agricultural products to ensure timely and fast movement of the produce. Over Western Railway, these services were planned and operated for transportation of onion, garlic, chikoo and raw bananas in VP/GSS rakes on various routes of the railway. It is worth mentioning that, chikoo was included in Ministry of Food Processing Industries’ (MoFPI) list of notified fruits and vegetables as recommended by WR. The first Kisan Rail Special from WR ran on 24th November, 2020 from Laxmibainagar, Madhya Pradesh to New Guwahati, Assam for transportation of onion. In the current financial year from 1st April to 31st October, 2021, 101 Kisan Rail trips have been operated by WR and the 101st Kisan Rail was run from Laxmibainagar, Madhya Pradesh to Bapudham Motihari, Bihar. The 100th Kisan Rail of WR this financial year ran from Laxminagar to Malda Town. WR has run its Kisan Rail Specials to various parts of the country such as Adarsh Nagar (New Delhi), Bapudham Motihari (Bihar), Jorhat Town (Assam), Malda Town (West Bengal) and Changsari (Assam) transporting more than 26,000 tonnes of agricultural produce comprising of onion, garlic, chikoo and raw bananas, generating revenue of over Rs. 10 Cr. It is further planned to extend the reach to destinations like, Jirania, Gaur Malda, Raxaul, New Guwahati Goods Shed and Agartala.
