Railways need to focus on growth of parcel business which is important for small traders and businessmen : Piyush Goyal

Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal conducted a review of Railways’ Parcel business which was attended by the Members of Board, and other officials of Railway Board and CRIS.

During the last few months, Indian Railways has brought in several initiatives to attract more business towards its Parcel services . Some of them include
a) running of Kisan Rail trains to facilitate movement of farm and agri-produce;
b) grant of discounts on sectors where Parcel Vans and Parcel trains are returning empty; .
c) grant of discount on loading of 24 Parcel Vans in a single train;
d) opening of all goods-sheds,
e) Private Freight Terminals and Private Sidings for Parcel traffic;
and
f) starting Parcel train for export traffic to Bangladesh.

In addition to these initiatives, Indian Railways is also planning to develop dedicated Parcel Terminals to make handling of Parcel consignments easier for the parties, and Sangola (Central Railway), Kacheguda (South Central Railway), Coimbatore (Southern Railway), and Kankariya (Western Railway) have already been identified for development as a pilot project.

Minister appreciated the efforts done by the Railways especially regarding running of Kisan Rail trains, and stated that growth of Parcel business is very important as these services are used by small traders and businessmen – and making Parcel services more customer friendly will give direct benefit to this segment. He emphasised that Railways shall aim for steep growth in Parcel business, and more efforts and innovative ideas are required to bring the desired growth.

Minister directed that immediate steps shall be taken to increase the production of LHB Parcel Vans, and to introduce e-Payment and Digital Payment facilities. He also directed that adequate steps must to taken to facilitate movement of traffic from North-eastern region and hill states, and also to attract export traffic going towards ports. Minister stated that Parcel Special trains must be run punctually, so that customers gain confidence for using these services.