Railways developing Vande Bharat parcel trains for e-commerce shipping

The railways have begun designing freight trains on the lines of its Vande Bharat passenger express. The first prototype is expected to be ready sometime in the next financial year. After test runs along the Mumbai-Gujarat section of the railways, the new high-speed freight trains may be considered for induction into regular railway service, the first among the two persons quoted above said on the condition of anonymity.

The national transporter hopes that the new service using the semi-fast trains will help it regain some of the non-bulk freight business that has moved to roadways over the decades. A large portion of high-end e-commerce freight movement has also moved to air cargo in the absence of a dedicated service by the railways. The new plan is be a big shift in the railways' freight policy that is largely focused on revenue-generating bulk shipping of coal, steel, iron ore, food grains, cement, petroleum products and fertilizer, among others.

E-commerce offers a big opportunity. The online retail logistics market size India is estimated at nearly $4 billion, according to Mordor Intelligence, a Hyderabad-based data research firm. 

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“The idea with Vande Bharat parcel train is to bring high-value niche goods movement to the railways. These could be dedicated along routes that offer a good scope for faster movement of small parcels with the railways," the first person quoted above said. “Also, high-value perishable products, such as flowers, that currently use air cargo services can also be brought back to the railways with the new service."

The parcel train will be the fourth model in the line of indigenously built semi high-speed Vande Bharat format. The railways have already announced Vande Bharat passenger train with chair cars, 3-tier sleeper coaches and metro trains.

The rakes are being developed at Railway’s Integral Coach Factory (ICF) at Chennai. The prototype is being developed to run at speeds of 160-180 km per hour, with 16 coaches, each having a 16-18 tonne carrying capacity. The total cargo capacity of one train will be 250-290 tonne.

The coaches will be 8-, 11- and 13-metre long, considering the high-end and niche segments that railways targets. An eight-coach parcel train will also be tested.

The floor of the coaches is being developed with roller blades for easy movement of parcels and the doors would be kept around 3-5 metres to make it easier to load large parcels, according to the people quoted earlier.

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“The Vande Bharat parcel trains are still in developmental stage. But we are taking all inputs to make this train a practical product for modern logistics requirements," said the second person quoted above. “Along with the technology that would facilitate faster movement of these trains, it would also help in reducing turnaround time of a parcel to around 7-8 minutes and cater to the demand for faster deliveries and express logistics such as Flipkart and Amazon. The plan is to complete deliveries between Delhi-Mumbai in 10 hours and Delhi-Chennai in 24 hours."

A query emailed to the railways remained unanswered till press time.

The railways’ earnings from the parcel services remain minuscule, it is already working on streamlining the segment. The 100-odd dedicated express parcel trains launched during covid lockdowns in 2020 are being regularized. A new Parcel Express service is being planned on routes with high potential of small freight traffic, especially covering tier II-III cities that have become major consumers of goods sold by online retailers.

“Route planning and on-time delivery would hold key to the success of this niche initiative from railways," said Anirban Mazumdar, chief executive officer of ThinkLink, a logistics consulting firm. “This would be a game changer for the sector and would provide ease of operations and an alternative solution for e-commerce, express delivery players." 

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