Farm On Track: First 'Kisan Rail' Ferrying Perishable Goods From Maharashtra to Bihar Flagged Off

In keeping with the promise made in the budget, Indian Railways has operationalised the Kisan Rail, a special parcel train service for farmers, for hassle-free transportation of perishable farm products at affordable prices.

The first Kisan Rail, was flagged today (7August) from Devlali (Maharashtra) to Danapur (Bihar) through video conferencing by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal amid the presence of other dignitaries from Maharashtra.

The train will run on a weekly basis and it will reach Danapur the next day covering the journey of 1519 kms in 31 hours and 45 minutes.

Along with the setting up of a Kisan rail, finance minister Nirmala Seetharama had also announced that the government would 'build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of milk, meat, and fish’.

The train with frozen containers will facilitate the movement of perishable produce between the two states and ensure faster movement of goods from the farm to the markets.

The freight charges too have been kept on a par with the parcel charges of normal trains and is seen as a step towards realising the goal of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022.

Nasik and the surrounding region produces huge quantities of fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers, other perishables, onions and other agro products. These perishables are mainly transported to areas around Patna, Prayagraj, Katni, and Satna.

The train, which has been strongly promoted among farmers, handlers and the APMC, will halt at Nasik Road, Manmad, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Itarsi, Jabalpur, Satna, Katni, Manikpur, Prayagraj Chheoki, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Nagar and Buxar.

Railways have earlier run single commodity special trains like Banana Specials etc. But this will be the first ever multi commodity trains and will carry fruits like Pomegranate, Banana, Grapes etc and vegetables like Capsicum, Cauliflower, Drumsticks, Cabbage, Onion, Chillies etc.