 Early Times Report
JAMMU, Nov 11: Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways today visited New Delhi Railway Station to inspect the prototype of Cube Container. The Minster was accompanied by Member Operations & Business Development, Railway Board, S.K. Mohanty, Additional General Manager Northern Railway, Naveen Gulati, Divisional Railway Manager, Delhi Division Dimpy Garg and senior officials of Railway Board, and Northern Railway.
The Container one sixth the size of a forty feet ISO box with 2.55m x 2.00m x 2.73m (L x W x H) and can carry upto 2.5 MT payload. It is ideal for small cargo customers who have less than wagon load. The design of the cube has been approved by IR and the load trials have been done. Live movement trials of the prototypes are being conducted. The target customer segment includes; Manufacturers and Distributors of Fast Moving Consumer Durables (FMCD), packaged food, pharma, medical equipment, dry chemicals, 2 wheelers, leading cargo aggregators and clients seeking reduction in their logistic costs.
The operating model proposes end to end service, approach as close as possible to origin and destination of cargo and use of railway sidings instead of expensive terminals. The train load of mix cube and ISO containers with cargo from all segments can be targeted.
Expressing satisfaction on the design and the prototype of the cube container, the Minister said that Railways is giving Impetus to the vision of hon'ble PM 'Gati Shakti', which is to modernize the railway system to enhance speed making it a sustainable multimodal system. Focus is on increasing the freight business. Diversifying from traditional bulk cargo of coal, cement and petroleum and targeting and engaging small and medium cargo customers will open avenues vistas for railways. |
