Kakinada, Jan 6 (IANS): The South Central Railway zone's Vijayawada division shipped 2,700 tonnes of soyabean crude oil on Wednesday from Kakinada in East Godavari district to Haldia in West Bengal, marking a victory for its marketing efforts to convert road freight into railway freight.

Soyabean crude oil or degummed soya, has been loaded in as many as 49 BTPN tank wagons to be transported from Kakinada New Goods Complex siding in Andhra Pradesh to Haldia dock complex.

Generally, degummed soyabean crude gets transported by road in small quantities which now has been transported in a large quantity by the railways.

"With the marketing efforts of the Vijayawada division officials, now degummed soya bean has been diverted from roadways to rail transportation," said a railway zone official.

Vijayawada division has clear focus on the freight segment and the Railways is also continuously monitoring the movement of freight trains right from loading to unloading to cut down on transit time.

"Special emphasis has been given by the newly-constituted business development units (BDU) to create awareness among traders and cargo operators about the benefits being offered by Railways for transportation through rail," he said.

According to SCR zone officials, BDUs are yielding good results by capturing different segments of traffic apart from retaining regular traffic for transportation through rail.

"This has resulted in freight customers showing interest in transporting their products through rail and assured to offer loading on a regular basis," he said.

Gajanam Mallya, SCR general manager, advised customers to avail railway transportation as loading by rail is the safest even as he instructed officials to regularly monitor the supply of wagons and train movement to transport products without any hitch.