MALIGAON, April 24: Since the country-wide lockdown from 24th March disrupted passenger-carrying train movements; a dedicated team of railway personnel were working round-the-clock to convert this disruption into an opportunity by running parcel freight trains on a fixed time table so that the supply chain logistics is maintained unhindered.
This has ensured that there is no shortage of food and essentials in the Northeast for people in general and the front-line fighters against COVID-19 in this crucial time.
Northeast Frontier Railway has so far run 88 trips of Parcel Special Trains carrying materials like Milk & Milk products under various brands like Amul Taza etc., Medicine, Protective Masks, PPEs, Sanitizers, various products of Nastle like Maggie noodles, baby foods etc. These trains were run like normal passenger trains with fixed departure and arrival time and date.
Within the northeastern region a few Parcel Special Trains were also operated to destinations like Agartala, Dibrugarh, Mendipather carrying about 500 tons of items mentioned above and also blood samples so that the landlocked neighboring states of Assam could also reap the benefits.
In a recent development, e-commerce portals Amazon and Central Governments India Post Service has also availed this service to book their consignment to Kolkata and New Delhi.
These parcel train service can be availed by anybody who is in need of sending consignments to different places by calling a centralized helpline number 138. Interested citizens, business enterprises, cargo handlers can avail this facility in this time of nationwide crisis and help us to serve their logistic needs.
