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Nagpur/New Delhi: Northeast Frontier Railway has started operating one lease Parcel Cargo Express Train (PCET) on a fortnightly basis, connecting the Northeastern part of the country with the West Coast.
The Parcel Cargo Express Train will connect New Guwahati in Assam and Kalyan in Maharashtra with stoppages at New Jalpaiguri, Kalumna Goods Shed.
The parcel train service would enable farmers to market their products like tea, betal nuts, pineapple, jute, horticulture products, cane furniture etc at the retail markets in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Nagpur, Pune etc, thereby promoting industries in the North East and providing sustainable job opportunity to the local youth, an official release stated.
The Parcel Cargo Express Train, which can carry consignment equivalent to 52 truckloads, will not involve any additional strain on the resources of the Railways.
On the contrary, these leased PCETs will generate substantial revenue to Indian Railways in their contractual periods of six years each. The unit transportation cost through PCET will be relatively less than the cost of road transportation. So, the transporters as well as ultimate consumers will be benefited on account of less transportation cost.
This will also ensure less carbon emission, which will contribute for Green India and saving of foreign exchange in terms of fuel import cost.
Several other zonal railways have also taken initiatives to lease out Parcel Cargo Express Train (PCETs) on round trip basis.
