Pipavav Railway completes one year of container train operations

Pipavav Railway Corporation Limited (PRCL), the joint venture company of the Ministry of Railways and Gujarat Pipavav Port Limited (GPPL), completed a year as an active container train operator carrying 16,645 TEUs in 172 rakes of container trains during the period.

"PRCL commenced container operations in September 2021 with the launch of service from Jodhpur Inland Container Depot (ICD) to port Pipavav. PRCL later started weekly service between Pipavav Port and Bhagat ki Kothi in Rajasthan. More destinations like Jamnagar, Sanand and Maliya were added as the demand grew for the service," says an official release.

Sanjiv Garg, Managing Director, PRCL, says: "The National Logistics Policy announced last week clearly focuses on speeding up the cargo movement and reducing the logistic cost in India to a single digit. As a container train operator, we are glad to be a part of this initiative by moving the cargoes on an environmentally friendly electrified route. With the implementation of DFC, there is a huge growth opportunity for PRCL and we are all geared up to cater to our customers."

Jakob Friis Sorensen, MD, APM Terminals Pipavav adds: "We are proud to be associated with PRCL and congratulate them on this milestone. Container train operations seamlessly improve the reliability of the scheduled ocean lines in comparison to road transportation. Connecting via electrified route is a significant step towards offering safe, reliable, cost-effective and environment-friendly EXIM cargo movement."

The current annual cargo handling capacity at APM Terminals Pipavav includes 1.35 million TEU containers, 250,000 passenger cars, 2 million metric tonnes of liquid bulk and 4 million metric tonnes of dry bulk. APM Terminals Pipavav is India's first public private partnership port, and is a part of APM Terminals.

PRCL was formed to execute the Surendranagar–Rajula–Pipavav port gauge conversion & new line project, and has concessionaire rights to construct, operate and maintain the project line for 33 years.