Kisan Rail: As announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the current financial year’s Union Budget, Piyush Goyal-led Indian Railways has introduced the first “Kisan Rail” train service from Devlali in Maharashtra to Danapur in Bihar today at 11:00 AM. The Kisan Rail train service, which is expected to be a big boon to farmers, was flagged off via video conferencing by Narendra Singh Tomar, the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchyati Raj, and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. According to the Railway Ministry, the train will reach Danapur at 6:45 PM on next day covering the 1,519 kilometres journey in 31:45 hours. Here are 10 facts about Indian Railways’ Kisan Rail that you should know:
1) This is the first-ever multi-commodity train service, which will carry vegetables like capsicum, cauliflower, cabbage, chillies, drumsticks, onion, etc., and fruits like grapes, banana, pomegranate, etc.
2) The train has been equipped with frozen containers and apart from fruits and vegetables, it is expected to build a seamless national cold supply chain of milk, meat and fish.
3) The train has a composition of 10 +1 VPs and initially, it will be operated on a weekly basis. However, further modifications can be done based on user experience.
4) The Kisan Rail train service will cater to the requirements of small farmers and traders for carrying their perishable supplies to distant places.
5) Scheduled halts have been provided at Nasik Road, Khandwa, Jalgaon, Manmad, Bhusaval, Burhanpur, Jabalpur, Itarsi, Manikpur, Buxar, Katni, Prayagraj Chheoki, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Nagar and Satna.
6) According to Railway Ministry, Kisan Rail is a step towards realizing the goal of doubling farmers’ incomes by the year 2022.
7) For Kisan Rail, aggressive marketing is being done with local farmers, loaders, individuals and APMC. The demand for this is being aggregated.
8) This train’s freight will be charged as per Indian Railways’ parcel tariff of normal train (P Scale).
9) The chargeable rates for major pair of railway stations are Rs 4,001 from Nasik Road/Devlali to Danapur, Rs 3,849 from Manmad to Danapur, Rs 3,459 from Bhusawal to Danapur, Rs 3,513 from Jalgaon to Danapur, Rs 3,148 from Khandwa to Danapur, Rs 3,323 from Burhanpur to Danapur.
10) It is being expected by Indian Railways that the train will be patronised well and it will be a great help to the farmers.
