Central Railway will operate another freight train, in addition to existing three, from Nashik for transportation of onions to other parts of country, a senior official said today.
He said the orders to operate the rake from tomorrow came from Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu, given the huge production of the bulb this year.
"Railway is providing four rakes for onion farmers to dispatch onion to hinterland (three for Central Railway destinations and one for South Central Railway destination). As per the directives of the Minister for Railways, one more rake will be made available from February 20 for onion farmers for sending their produce to the markets," the senior officer Narendra Patil told PTI.
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"Railway is already providing 50 per cent extra goods train than last year. (The new rake) will further enhance the carrying capacity of onion by 30 per cent," he said, adding the onions will be transported to Northern, Eastern, North Eastern and East Coast parts of country, which will maximise the markets for farmers.
Onion farmers of Nashik, which produces almost 30 per cent of total onion production in the country, have been finding themselves in the penury as they have failed to recover their cost of farming due to falling prices of the kitchen staple.
"Suresh Prabhuji had received demands to run additional goods train from Nashik, following which he ordered today to run one more goods train from February 20 and we are going to follow this tomorrow," Patil added.
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