Hyderabad, Nov 23 (IANS): With South Central Railway (SCR) laying special focus on transportation of essential commodities during the COVID-19 pandemic, parcel loading in SCR has registered 100 per cent increase during the current financial year.

According to SCR officials, the parcel transportation till November 21 has doubled when compared with the previous year loading in the same period.

The division recorded loading of 12,029 tonnes of parcels in 505 parcel vans during the current year against 6,003 tonnes of parcels transported in 210 vans last year.

The parcel transportation to the farther destinations like Howrah, Nizamuddin, Guwahati and Ludhiana helped in connecting more places for supplying essential commodities during the hour of need. It also led to register 40 per cent more revenue than the previous year.

During Covid-19 situation, the main motto of Railways was to keep supply chain intact. In this regard, SCR has been prompt in introducing time tabled parcel trains. According to the prevailing demand, parcel transportation has been carried out to farther destinations from Kacheguda railway station and other major stations of Hyderabad division.

For the convenience of cargo aggregators, Medchal station has been opened for parcel traffic during the lockdown period to facilitate hassle free and smooth transportation of parcels by Rail. For the first time on SCR, new high capacity LHB parcel vans have been introduced in time tabled parcel train bound towards Guwahati from Kacheguda which has been added advantage to load more parcels.

During the current financial year till November 21, a total of 265 parcel vans were loaded to Nizamuddin, 155 parcel vans were loaded to Howrah, 66 parcel vans to Guwahati and 19 parcel vans were loaded to different destinations like Ranchi, Shalimar, Chennai,Ludhiana, Korukkupet etc from Kacheguda, Medchal and other stations of Hyderabad division.

SCR General Manager Gajanan Mallya complimented Hyderabad division officials for their prompt and quick response during the pandemic situation which helped in transportation of essential parcel items from the division.

He also stated that time tabled parcel trains which were introduced in the current year has evoked huge response from parcel customers and this is a positive sign for the parcel transportation business of the Zone.