Important Facts For Prelims
First Kisan Rail
- 08 Aug 2020
- 2 min read
Why in News
The Indian Railways has introduced the first “Kisan Rail” from Devlali (Maharashtra) to Danapur (Bihar).
- The Centre had announced plans of starting special parcel trains called ‘Kisan Rail’ in the Budget 2020-21.
Key Points
- Kisan Rails are the first ever multi commodity trains.
- Earlier, Indian Railways had run single commodity special trains like Banana Specials etc.
- These trains with refrigerated coaches will help in bringing perishable agricultural products like vegetables, fruits to the market in a short period of time.
- These will ensure that agro products reach from one corner to another corner of the country.
- These trains are a step towards realising the goal of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022.
- These are expected to be a great help to the farmers, as freight of these trains will be charged as per parcel tariff of normal trains.
- The Devlai-Danapur train (a weekly service) is expected to reduce transportation costs by Rs. 1000 per tonne compared with roadways and reduce travel time by around 15 hours.
- Aggressive marketing is being done with local farmers, loaders, Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) and individuals.
- Any farmer or any other interested party can directly book their consignments in trains, without any lower limit on the size of consignment.
- The consignment can be as small as 50-100 kgs, and can be booked from any stopping station to any other stopping station – giving full flexibility.
- Regarding loss/damage of products for any reason, Railways already have a well-established claim/compensation system – through which the party can get compensation for its losses.
