Gateway Rail to run weekly train from Haryana to PSA Mumbai

November 25, 2019: PSA’s Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals (PSA Mumbai) and Gateway Rail Freight Limited (GRFL) on November 18 announced a weekly train service between PSA Mumbai and GRFL’s Inland Container Depots (ICDs) in North India.

The service will provide regular train connectivity from GRFL’s network of ICDs in North India at Garhi-Harsaru in Gurugram, Haryana, Ludhiana in Punjab, Piyala in Faridabad, Haryana, and Viramgam in Ahmedabad, Gujarat to PSA Mumbai at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Maharashtra.

Launch of scheduled train between @PSAMumbai and @GatewayRail ICDs at Monday's trade meet in Gurgaon - improving @JNPort NCR rail connectivity.#thebmctfactor@shipmin_india @RailMinIndia @dmicdc @DLDSLDB pic.twitter.com/SbGZcNUWcT

— BMCT (@PSAMumbai) November 20, 2019

“We are very happy to work with Gateway Rail to enhance rail connectivity to North India through scheduled services to a wide range of destinations. This new service will provide carriers and cargo owners with faster and more reliable inland transit times, through synchronizing vessel and train arrivals and departures. Users of all JNPT terminals can connect with Gateway’s new service thanks to smooth inter-terminal connections of rail boxes now taking place,” said Mike Formoso, managing director, PSA India.

“JNPT ports continue to offer the fastest transits between India’s West Coast and the NCR by average 2.6 days, according to Logistics Data Bank (LDB) data. The usage of rail at JNPT has been on an upward trend in recent months, reaching 18 percent in October. This is due to a combination of efficient inter-terminal transfers between terminals of rail containers, initiatives by Indian Railways to cut short distance haulage charges which has shifted some road traffic to rail in the Nhava Sheva area, and the start of scheduled rail services from PSA Mumbai and JNPT. We are very pleased to play our part in this and eagerly await the completion of the Dedicated Freight Corridor linking PSA Mumbai with the National Capital Region (NCR) – a game-changer for India’s logistics industry,” he added.

Sachin Bhanushali, director and CEO ,Gateway Rail Freight Limited and CEO, Gateway Distripark Ltd said, “The rail transit time between the NCR and the Gujarat region ports is both higher and less consistent compared to that of with JN Port, with the transit time in excess of 8 days in some cases due to operational constraints of Indian Railways on the Gujarat region route. Therefore, it is a big challenge for both intermodal operators and the shipping lines to offer any transit assurance to their clients. The transit time for JNPT is not only lower but more consistent. The new PSA Mumbai – Gateway Rail Dedicated Train Service is not only a fixed day service providing certainty to users, but also a common user service open to various carriers bringing in smaller lots thereby giving the shippers more options.”