Indian Railways starts its first Kisan Rail from Telangana! Around 150 train services operated so far; details

Kisan Rail Train Service: The concept of running Kisan Rail trains over the Indian Railways network was started last year for boosting the income of farmers, while providing safe, fast and hassle-free transport services for the marketing of the agriculture sector. According to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, about 150 farmer trains have been run so far, by which goods more than 50,000 tonnes reached new markets, and farmers got good prices. After starting Kisan Rail train services from Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, the South Central Railway zone recently started the first Kisan Rail from the state of Telangana.

The first Kisan Rail from Telangana was started on 8 February 2021 to assist the agriculture sector in marketing their produce for better price realization by offering cost effective transportation, according to South Central Railways. The Kisan Rail train was loaded with Turmeric from the Warangal railway station in Secunderabad Division. The zonal railway further said that the train was loaded with 230 tons of Dry Turmeric in as many as 10 Parcel Vans and it is being transported to Barasat railway station of Sealdah Division in West Bengal.

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries, to further encourage the farmers, had announced extension of 50 per cent tariff concession under “Operation Greens – TOP to Total”, on the transportation of notified vegetables and fruits through Kisan Rail trains. Accordingly, the South Central Railway zone’s first Kisan rail from Telangana was also given 50 per cent tariff concession under this scheme for transporting turmeric.

As compared to other modes of transport, the 50 per cent concession being offered in the base freight for the Kisan Rail is much beneficial for the farmers, South Central Railways said. All these continuous efforts of marketing have led to the commencement of the first Kisan Rail from the state of Telangana, with farmers/traders showing interest in transportation of their supplies by railways instead of roadways, the zonal railway added.