In a unique initiative to help farmers to send their perishable agro products to inter-state markets without any delay, the first ever Kisan Rail Parcel special train of Western Railway was flagged off from Laxmibai Nagar near Indore to New Guwahati by Hon’ble Member of Parliament Shankar Lalwani on 24th November, 2020 in the presence of various dignitaties along with Divisional Railway Manager of Ratlam Division. Alok Kansal- General Manager of Western Rly has taken keen interest in this regard & has paved way for suitable implementation of this initiative, with his able guidance & support.
Train No 00907/00908 Laxmibai Nagar – New Guwahati Kisan Rail is a weekly special train which will depart from Laxmibai Nagar station at 15.00 hrs every Tuesday and will reach New Guwahati at 15.25 hrs every Thursday. Similarly, Train No. 00908 New Guwahati – Laxmibai Nagar Special will depart from New Guwahati at 22.00 hrs every Thursday from 26th Nov, 2020 and will arrive Laxmibai Nagar at 22.15 hrs on Saturday. This is the first of its kind weekly Kisan parcel special train to run by WR between Laxmibai Nagar and New Guwahati, which will run upto February 2021.
According to Sumit Thakur- Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Rly, Kisan Rail will help in transporting agricultural produce, especially perishable commodities, at cheaper rates and aid farmers in getting the right price for their crops. The weekly train will provide seamless connectivity among farmers, markets and consumers. All the required measures have been taken to safely transport perishable vegetables and fruits. Any farmer, or any other interested party, can directly book their consignments on this train without any lower limit on the size of the consignment.
The consignment can be as small as 50-100 kgs, and can be booked from any stopping station to any other stopping station. Shri Thakur stated that the Kisan Rail is a part of the Central Government’s commitment to increase the income of farmers. It was announced to run the Kisan Rail in the 2020-21 budget, in which perishable agricultural products like vegetables and fruits can be transported in a short time from one city to another. Looking at the commercial demand for transportation of Onion and Potatoes, as well as perishable fruits and vegetables, it was decided to run ‘Kisan Rail’ special train, under the Operation Green as a part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. It will greatly benefit the farmers as they can transport their farm produce at 50% subsidy provided by MoFPI.
It is worth mentioning that despite toughest challenges during corona lockdown, Western Railway has been running various parcel special trains to transport several types of commodities, in addition to the milk special trains. In continuation to these efforts, now WR has started to run its first Kisan parcel special train between Laxmibai Nagar near Indore and New Guwahati. The first trip of this Kisan Rail departed from Lakshmi Nagar on 24th November, 2020 carrying 180 Tonnes of onions. The train comprised of total 20 coaches, with 18 coaches carrying 10 tonnes of onions per coach and 2 coaches have been left empty, for loading enroute stations. This train will have halts at Sant Hirdaram Nagar, Bina, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Chhapra, Hajipur, Katihar, Kishanganj, New Jalpaiguri and Changsari stations in both directions.
