Railways very soon will introduce Cube containers to Transport 2 & 3 Wheelers Safely

Previously, an attempt was made by the railways to carry 2 wheelers on the rails, but since it was not a fool-proof arrangement, hence numerous vehicles use to get damaged and hence many, did not prefer, and railways had to discontinue the services.

Presently, the railways do not have an effective mode of transportation system for 2 as well 3 wheelers and as a result, these are getting transported only through road ways.

Now Railways again want to target 2 & 3 wheelers majorly, apart from it, they would like to transit packaged food, dry chemicals and other fast moving consumer durables. Railways have introduced Cube containers for both, easy and safe transportation on the rails.

Due to the absence of a tailor made transportation system for 2 wheelers, the railways were losing substantial loading to the road sector, stated a senior Railway Ministry official and added, we are hoping to attract this particular sector.

Naresh Kumar, an ex-railway man, designed and manufactured, the prototype of the Cube container, which was reviewed by Railway Minister, Ashwani Vaishnaw and Railway top brass at New Delhi station.

According to the official statement, both minister as well as the accompanying team have expressed satisfaction at the effectiveness of the cube container system and they have provided green signal for the commercial trial.

The minister has expressed satisfaction over the design and the prototype of the Cube container. He further added that Railways were giving an impetus to the vision of PM's Gati Shakti, this would modernize the railway system and it would enhance the speed, thus it would make it a sustainable multimodal system.

The focus is on increasing the freight business. Diversifying from the traditional bulk cargo of coal, cement and petroleum and targeting and engaging small and medium cargo customers will open avenues and vistas for Railways.

The 1st commercial trial is slated to be on 15th Dec, 2021 and it is expected to be flagged off by the Railway Minister.

The 9 feet Cube container would carry eight, 2 wheelers at a time, while for 3 wheelers, it has the capacity around 3 such vehicles.

One full rake having 270 Cube containers is expected to carry 2160 motorcycles. For 3 wheelers, the capacity is 810 such vehicles at a time.

The introduction of the Cube containers in the system is expected to increase loadings substantially, as the Cube rake has the capacity to carry nearing to 675 tonnes of parcel cargo.

Since the Railways have a target of 1400 tonnes of loading for the present fiscal, the cube containers are likely to help the public transporter achieve its target in an smooth way.

Apart from 2 wheelers, the cube containers will carry engineering goods, fruits, vegetables, pharmaceuticals and other goods in the FMCG sector.

The transportation of goods on rails is about 20 to 30% cheaper when compared to road. Rail transportation is environmentally friendly, as it helps in reducing emissions.

The above cube container operating model does propose end to end service approach from as close as possible to destination, thus it offers help in reducing the logistic costs.

As per the Railways, the train load consists of mixed Cube and ISO containers having cargo from all segments are also targeted.