Kisan Rail begins on August 7

Indian Railways’ Kisan Rail services to transport perishables will kick start from August 7.
This will be the first such train, carrying vegetables and fruits. The train will run from Devlali in Maharashtra and Danapur in Bihar.

The initiative is part of central government’s aim of doubling the income of farmers by 2022.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced this initiative in her budget speech earlier this year envisaging setting up of a ‘Kisan Rail’ through the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode for a cold supply chain to transport perishable goods.

“As announced in the current year’s Budget to start ‘Kisan Rail’ for providing a seamless supply chain of perishable produce, the Ministry of Railways is introducing the first Kisan Rail from Devlali to Danapur on August 7 at 11 am on a weekly basis…,” the ministry said in a statement.
The train will reach Danapur at 6.45 pm on the next day, covering 1,519 km in 31.45 hours, it said.
Central Railway, Bhusawal Division is primarily an agro-based division and Nasik and the surrounding region produces huge quantities of fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers, other perishables, onions and other agro products.
These perishables are mainly transported to areas around Patna, Allahabad, Katni, Satna and others.
The Kisan Rail has been provided scheduled halts at Nasik Road, Manmad, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Itarsi, Jabalpur, Satna, Katni, Manikpur, Prayagraj Chheoki, Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Nagar and Buxar.

The Kisan Rail will comprise refrigerated coaches in Express and Freight trains.
The budget also proposed the launch of Krishi Udan by Civil Aviation Ministry on international and national routes to transport perishable goods to less accessible areas such as north-east and tribal districts.

The proposal to use refrigerated parcel vans to ferry perishables was first announced by then railway minister Mamata Banerjee in the 2009-10 Budget. However, it failed to take off.

Since then, the railways has commissioned temperature-controlled perishable cargo centres at Ghazipur Ghat (UP), New Azadpur (Adarsh Nagar, Delhi) and Raja ka Talab (UP) as a pilot project under the Kisan Vision Project by Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR) through a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiative. Another project is under construction at Lasalgaon in Maharashtra’s Nasik.