Category Archives: Rail/Road

Alstom has successfully manufactured and delivered the 100th electric locomotive to Indian Railways. As part of the contract worth €3.5 billion won in 2015, the company will be supplying 800 fully electric high-powered double-section locomotives of 12,000 HP (9 MW) for freight service, capable of hauling 6,000 tonnes at a top speed of 120 km/hr. This is the largest Foreign Direct Investment project in the Indian Railway sector. In the financial year 2020-2021, Indian Railways recorded a freight loading of 1,232 million tonnes, which was 2 per cent higher than the previous fiscal. Introduction of faster trains has helped increase the average speed of transportation by 83 per cent leading to a shorter turnaround time and has supported the movement of essential goods during COVID-19 times . With the first Prima T8TM WAG-12B inducted for commercial service in May 2020, these locomotives are transforming the heavy freight transportation landscape of India. Deployed for operations on major freight routes, including Dedicated Freight Corridors, the Prima T8TM WAG-12Be-Locos have already clocked over close to 5 million kilometres hauling a wide range of commodities. These locomotives also made the inaugural run on the first fully operational sections of the Dedicated Freight Corridors, in December 2020. Some of the key commodities moved by these e-Locos include – coal, cement, food grains, fertilisers, petrochemical products, minerals, and posts/ parcels, across 17 States & 2 Union Territories.

To contribute to the war against COVID-19, Pickrr has announced a 100 per cent subsidy on delivery charges for all non-profit organisations supplying COVID-19 essentials around the country. The company extend its support to all the NGOs and NPOS and urges them to join forces with India in taking on the pandemic with full strength. Commenting on the notable initiative, Rhitiman Majumder, Co-Founder at Pickrr, said, “The second wave of the virus has created massive chaos in our country, forcing many state governments to impose strict restrictions to stop the health crisis from becoming worse. During these unprecedented times, COVID-19 essentials should reach every destination on priority. We at Pickrr ensure to deliver all the essential health and grocery products without compromising the safety of your associates. NGOs supplying COVID-19 essentials can use our services without paying a single delivery charge and get the goods delivered at the right place and time”. The company works with the leading courier partners in the country, including Blue Dart, FedEx and more, to offer the best service to its customers.

As the ongoing lockdown restricts essential supplies for millions of Indians, Rapido has partnered with Zomato, Swiggy BigBasket. Delhivery, Grab, Xpressbees, and Udaan for last-mile delivery support Proful Lall, VP, Corporate Affairs, Rapido “As the nation fights its worst-ever pandemic, lockdowns and restrictions have been put in place to ensure the safety of citizens across the nation. As one of the largest mobility services in the country, Rapido has partnered with Zomato, Swiggy, BigBasket, Delhivery, Practo, Grab, Xpressbees, and Udaan, to support them with last-mile connectivity and deliveries of essentials to the people staying or nursing at home. These partnerships are live across Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Vijayawada, Tirupati, and Guntur. Rapido is supporting these partners in the delivery of medicines, essential groceries, and food from restaurants, helping small-scale industries stock up their inventory, and finding more ways of contributing to the fight against COVID-19. We have undertaken all necessary measures to ensure the safety of our Captains and are proud of our on-ground COVID-19 Warriors working every day to ensure every citizen is staying home.”

As the country is reeling under acute oxygen shortage amid rising number of Covid-19 cases, Stellar Value Chain Solutions has set aside 1.5 million square feet of warehousing space and transportation services to beef up the supply of the life-saving element to hospitals on cost-free basis. The lion’s share of the warehousing space will come up in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore and in other metro/mini metro cities. Stellar Value Chain Solutions will also provide its fleet of refrigerated trucks for transporting Covid-19 vaccines besides facilitating storage of oxygen cylinders, oxygen equipment and oxygen concentrators forgoing the entire cost. The company has warehousing space across the country and robust express, less-than-truckload and temperature-controlled transportation infrastructure, which the company has decided to press into service for the nation. “In this moment of crisis, we stand by the country and volunteer our warehouses and transportation services for the fight against Covid-19. Saving the lives of our fellow citizens is the utmost priority for us at the moment. Even as the healthcare system is doing its best to fight the pandemic, corporates like us have to do our bit for the nation in such an unprecedented crisis. A number of large corporates are coming forward to reconfigure their manufacturing processes to produce more medical oxygen. We are coming forward to provide free of cost storage and transportation of all Covid related requirements such as Vaccines, Oxygen Cylinders, Oxygen concentrators, Mattresses, Beds and Other Medical Equipments” said Anshuman Singh, Chairman and MD, Stellar Value Chain Solutions.

DB Schenker proclaims the ambitious goal of zero-emission deliveries for its city distribution operations in all major Norwegian cities by the end of 2021. This objective has already been achieved for Oslo with the establishment of the Oslo City Hub. It is the world’s first green distribution center of its kind, and 100 % of the local delivery vehicles have been changed from Diesel- to Electric drive. The company has invested in a new electric vehicle fleet and is rolling out 25 new additional electric trucks and vans throughout the country this spring. The electric fleet will then consist of a total of 42 electric trucks and five electric bicycles that will contribute to a significant Co2 reduction of 1,500 tons per year in Norway. The investment in sustainable urban distribution will continue throughout 2021 until DB Schenker reaches its target of 100 per cent electric distribution in all major Norwegian cities. The electric vehicle fleet is part of the DB Schenker Group’s global target of 100 per cent emission-free city distribution operations by 2030. DB Schenker is also following its own example from Norway by rolling out an increasing number of electric vehicles in many European cities.

Gateway Distriparks has announced its audited financial results for the quarter and Financial Year ended March 31, 2021. In March’21, rail container business recorded highest ever monthly throughput of 26,426 TEUs. Q4 consolidated EBITDA up 41 per cent YoY from Rs69.5 crore to Rs 98.1 crore and Q4 consolidated PAT up 299 per cent from 11.7 crore to 46.6 crore. The net debt reduced by Rs237 crore in FY21 to Rs 444 crore. The revival in the EXIM trade has been much faster than anticipated. In Q3FY21, the company witnessed a sharp recovery in its overall volumes for both our CFS and Rail Container business. The CFS business recorded peak throughput of 33,793 TEUs in month of March 2021 for the year whereas the Rail container business recorded highest ever monthly throughput of 26,426 TEUs in the month of March 2021, thus surpassing previous all-time high throughput of 25,676 TEUs recorded in December 2020. Commenting on the performance, Prem Kishan Dass Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, comments, “The growth momentum we had gathered in Q3 has continued in Q4 as well. H1FY21 was impacted by COVID-19-linked disruptions, however as the year went on, we could see volumes bounce back month over month and reach a new all-time high. The 306-km long Rewari-Madar section of the WDFC (Western Dedicated Freight Corridor) was inaugurated in the first week of January 2021. The WDFC will bring in a lot of operating efficiency at our 4 owned ICDs in the North-West corridor leading to further improvement in service quality for our customers. The trials on the next section of Madar to Palanpur which will connect Mundra and Pipavav have already started and is expected …

Gati-KWE has upgraded its logistics solutions for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by integrating a gamut of useful customised and solutions-based offerings. The company is also intensifying its reach among SMEs in metros as well as in tier-2 and 3 cities. Apart from offering technologically advanced domestic air and surface logistics solutions for the SMEs, as a part of its latest service offerings, Gati-KWE has launched deferred service offerings for companies with low bandwidth of last mile distribution spend but are willing to compromise on TAT. For SMEs catering to multi brand outlets (MBOs), the express logistics major has introduced seamless and tech-enabled multi-location pickup services which can be accessed through ‘Genie’, a WhatsApp chatbot (+91 74000 12000) offering instant assistance or customer portal on GatiKWE.com. “We have always been an SME-centric organization and witnessed a significant growth in this segment. Our deeper engagement with the SME sector has actually propelled us to expand our network and operational reach through continuous addition of OU (operating units) and channel partners. SMEs have emerged as the engine of growth for the economy. Thanks to the growing internet penetration, the geographical periphery of the potential markets of the number of SMEs is always increasing, so is the growth potential. Our tech-driven logistic solutions have been helping new-age growth-focused SMEs develop a well spread-out distribution network across India to scale businesses sustainably and grow exponentially. To make our services more impactful, we are customising our services as per the specific requirements of SMEs from tier 2, 3 cities, and beyond with the same vigour as that for a key account in a metro location,” said Manish Jain, National Head-SME, Gati-KWE. The SMEs have been …

To revolutionise the transport of goods and reduce the overall logistic costs, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highway (MoRTH) has hosted the draft on the Automotive Industry Standards Committee and has amended AIS-113 Standard to include the safety requirements of Road-Trains. The standards have been prepared after examining European benchmarks, keeping in mind Indian operating conditions. “These standards shall pave the way for a breakthrough intervention for fast and efficient movement of goods along the long-distance freight corridors,” said the ministry. For the unversed, Road-Train is a motor vehicle wherein the traction is provided by the puller, which is connected to a serial combination of trailers or semi- trailers. These shall ply on select stretches to reduce congestion, save fuel and reduce noise & air pollution. The Automotive Industry Standards Committee has representatives from the relevant Ministries, Testing Agencies, Industry stakeholders, BIS etc. The amended standard AIS-113 (Code of Practice for Type Approval of Trailers / Semi-trailers of categories T2, T3 and T4 being towed by Motor Vehicles of categories N2 and N3) has been published for invitation of public comments, after which it shall be notified in due course.

With an aim to allow consignees get their containers railed out on same rake/same day from APM Terminals Pipavav port, the Port has launched Rail-Out by Bill of Lading service so that all containers under one Bill of Lading can be cleared together at destination with less hassle. This saves considerable cost and time for importers on consignments planned for inland/hinterland locations. The service is available to any shipping line, NVOCC, consignee or their forwarders or agents. For sea shipments, shipping lines issue a Bill of lading with specific number of containers according to details provided by shippers/exporters. APM Terminals Pipavav offers rail-out of import containers grouped by Bill of Lading (B/L). This supports the Government of India’s “Ease of Doing Business” initiative. At the discharge port, due to differences in discharge timing, most of the time containers under same B/L get stacked separately. This results in the rail-out of these containers on different rakes/different days (First-in First-out principal). This service does not provide an early/priority rail out. It’s an assurance/support that the nominated containers will rail out together on single rake. All containers would follow first in-first out principle. Charge • Consignees/forwarders/agents will be charged USD 12/TEU or USD 16/FFE for the service Order Service • Register with APM Terminals Pipavav as consignee/forwarder/agent. • Open Pre-Deposit Account (PDA) with APM terminals Pipavav using the PDA Application Form. • Consignee or their agent send completed B/L Raila-Out Request Form (.xls) to APM Terminals Pipavav (see sidebar) 72 hours before vessel arrival

Maersk in collaboration with GatewayRail has launched the weekly double-stacked train service to provide the scheduled landside movement of automotive parts and components. The automotive manufacturing sector works on ‘Just-In-Time’ model for the supply chains of its parts and components. Automotive manufacturers require highly reliable logistics services that can move their raw material and finished products on precise schedules to ensure uninterrupted production processes. For years, several of these manufacturers based in and around Gurugram, northern part of India, have been dependent on staggered and unscheduled rail movement for their cargo going in and out of the country. Delayed imports hamper production schedules while delayed exports pile up inventories for the manufacturers. In response to the needs of the automotive sector, Maersk India has launched the first ‘Automotive Express’ whose first run was virtually flagged off on April 18, 2021 by Denmark’s Ambassador to India, His Excellency Freddy Svane. “Manufacturing is an extremely important building block of our country’s economy. As a service provider to this critical segment, our goal is to streamline their supply chains and offer highest levels of reliability” commented Vikash Agarwal, Managing Director, Maersk South Asia. He added, “With the ‘Automotive Express’, we are not only simplifying our automotive customers’ supply chains by offering integrated logistics solution that bundles ocean and landside transportation, but are also driving cost and time efficiencies through precisely scheduled movement of their cargo.” “GatewayRail is excited to jointly launch the new ‘Automotive Express’ with Maersk that connects customers to their global import and export destinations through the MECL and FI3 services at APM Terminals Pipavav Port. GatewayRail has been a pioneer in innovative intermodal services such as the ‘Ship to Rail …