Overview
- The season’s first dedicated parcel van left Jammu on Monday morning and reached Bandra Terminus in about 33 hours on Tuesday, carrying roughly 12 tonnes packed in about 966 boxes.
- Railway officials said the van was attached to the Jammu Tawi–Bandra Terminus Vivek Express (Train No. 19028) and that special handling arrangements were made to preserve the fruit during the 1,881 km run.
- Authorities have registered 28 special parcel‑van indents from Jammu and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra so far, and earlier consignments of about 18 tonnes were already moved using rail facilities this season.
- The rail service is being offered alongside reserved space in SLR coaches on regular trains to let small and medium traders ship low‑volume consignments affordably, a shift officials say is cost‑effective when road fuel prices rise.
- Officials and traders expect faster, time‑bound rail shipments to cut spoilage, improve shelf life and prices for orchardists in Jammu and Kashmir while the railways scale operations through the peak season.