226 freight rakes carried by ECoR in September so far under business development initiative

The East Coast Railway (ECoR) on September 23 said it has carried 226 rakes of freight in the current month so far through its business development initiative.

The ECoR authorities have been in touch with various trade and industry bodies through the business development units (BDUs) to increase its share in the transportation of goods, it said in a statement.

"Following the efforts of the business development units created recently, ECoR has carried 226 rakes of freight till September 21 and transported about 0.67 million tonne of goods," it added.

These include loading of fertiliser by IFFCO from Dhanmandal railway station, fly ash from Tata Bhushan Steel Ltd sidings at Meramandali. Similarly, maize was carried from Kesinga and Jeypore stations, cement from Bargarh, iron ore from Kirandul, coal from Waltair Division along with the short-distance transportation of slag and steel from Visakhapatnam Steel Plant to Gangavaram Port.

At least 15 rakes of fertiliser, 40 of rice and 32 of cement were transported, while 78 of iron ore and 56 of slag and steel carried by ECoR since the beginning of this month, the statement said.

The ECoR has set up business development units (BDUs) to attract traders and industrial entities for transportation of their products by railways. "The BDUs are now stepping up their efforts for both short and long-distance transportation of commodities along with non-bulk items," it added.

The East Coast Railway has also planned to provide its 28 sheds of goods on an outsourcing basis to various business units and has called for an expression of interest for the purpose, it said.

The ECoR is now exploring ways to increase miscellaneous non-bulk goods traffic to improve its share in the transportation of commodities.