South Western Railway, JSW enter into agreement for iron ore transportation

South Western Railway (SWR) and JSW Minerals Rail Logistics Private Limited entered into an agreement on Friday for operation of five special type of wagons with 'side discharge' arrangement for unloading, officials said.

It will be put to use for transportation of iron ore from the mines at Mineral Enterprises Ltd Siding, Sasalu and Swamihalli to the steel plant of JSW at Tornagallu. This is in addition to seven rakes for which agreement was signed on October 17, they said.

In a statement, SWR officials said, "Total 12 BOBSNS (Bogie open hopper wagons with bottom discharge arrangement to carry ballast ores) rakes shall be procured by JSW Minerals Rail Logistics Private Limited. The rake is manufactured by Titagarh Rail System Limited, Kolkata and the first rake is expected to operate from April, 2024."

JSW Minerals Rail Logistics Private Limited is investing Rs. 29.57 crore per rake. A rebate of 10 per cent is granted to the customer on base freight for every booking, it said.

"Introduction of BOBSNS wagon will ease out the unloading difficulty through wagon tippler or manually. The capacity of this rake is 3.5 per cent more than the 59 BOXN rake and it will save about two hours unloading time per rake of goods compared to regular BOXN rakes," the statement added.