New rail service connects North India with CPT

KOCHI: Connecting North India to Cochin Port Trust, Arshiya Rail Infrastructure Limited, a subsidiary of supply chain and logistics major Arshiya International, has started a bi-weekly train service. The first train carrying 90 TEUs of white cement from Jodhpur reached the CPT in the wee hours of Tuesday. The consignment is to be distributed to various parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The service opens up connectivity between Inland Container Depots in North India to the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT), Vallarpadam. “The train service will initially be bi-weekly. The service will also facilitate movement of goods from North India at much cheaper rates than by road transit. Later, the return leg may carry containers imported via Vallarpadam ICTT,” said C Unnikrishnan Nair, CPT traffic manager. It is also possible to move consignments such as raw-rubber from Kerala to North India at competitive rates through the rail service. In a year, around six tonnes of raw-rubber is sent to other states from Kerala,” he added.“Rail siding, crane facility and storage yard are the facilities offered by Cochin Port Trust for the company to operate train services. The containerised cargo that reach the Willingdon Island via rail can be taken to ICTT via the Ro-Ro service, which has proven to be an effective mode for transiting of cargo via water ways,” Unnikrishnan said.Arshiya Rail is a specialised entity of Arshiya International offering rail infrastructure including modern rakes, customised containers, new sidings and pan-India network. The company obtained license for operating a pan-India rail service in 2008.With the increase in the volume of cargo from ICDs out of Kerala, the Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) is already operating scheduled and ad hoc services connecting the ICTT with ICDs in Bangalore and Coimbatore.