GUWAHATI: Indian Railway's
Parcel Cargo Express Train (
PCET) connecting
Northeast region with the western coast will start its maiden operation from Guwahati on May 17.
NF Railway chief public relations officer Pranav Jyoti Sharma said its a leap forward for transportation of agricultural produce from northeast like pine-apple, ginger, turmeric, tea, cane and wax as well as industrial finished goods from New Guwahati Yard (NGC) to Kalyan in Maharastra.
The PCET will run between New Guwahati Yard to Kalyan initially twice a month.
"PCET is a unique arrangement where even very small quantity of goods can be easily booked to destinations. The train runs on a definite path and is accorded top most operational priority. Rates are cheaper than other modes of transport, " Sharma said.
He said besides being cost effective, the service has the door-to-door facility and can carry 450 Tonnes of material at a time.
"The train is certified to run at a speed of 110 Kms/hrs. There will be no cost escalation for three years. Also there is a flexibility of increasing the number of rakes per month. PCET will run on a scheduled path and a time-table," Sharma said.
He added the PCET will go a long way to meet the demands of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram in ensuring supplies of medicines, Continuous Process Plants (CPP) raw material, essential supplies, army CSD consignments, infra-structure materials from West coast to Northeast.
Operations for transportation have been simplified and made single window by leasing out the parcel space, Sharma said. He added the railways will monitor the operation to ensure goods reach on time.
Representative Photo