Eastern Railway starts booking consignments in EMU trains

In a first for the Indian Railway, it has started booking consignments in its EMU services and has commenced carrying goods of an e-commerce company, an official said here on Monday.

In a pilot project for three months, Eastern Railway has started booking and carrying e-commerce goods in vendor compartments of its EMU local trains, ER spokesman Nikhil Chakraborty said.

"We have started carrying 7 metric tonne of consignment per day from Sealdah to Dankuni in EMU locals," he said.

"It is a pilot project on an experimental basis for three months, booking consignments in EMU service is the first time in Indian Railways," Chakraborty said.

"Upon the success of the pilot project, other routes may also be taken up by Amazon and other e-commerce companies to have the benefit of penetration and quick transit using the suburban railway system," the ER spokesman said.

He said that the project is envisaged to be beneficial for both the railways and the private player.

While the Eastern Railway will earn Rs 5,537 per day for a maximum 7 metric tonne consignment by carrying it during non-peak hours, Amazon will benefit through easy and hassle- free movement of its goods from Sealdah to its hub at Dankuni 21 km away across the river Hooghly.