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South Korean line Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) has started a weekly scheduled block train service from the Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals (BMCT) to the Tughlakabad inland container depot (ICD) in the National capital Region (NCR), Delhi.
The block train, carrying 90 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and operated by Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR), offers HMM’s customers a faster intermodal connection to the NCR.
Train departures are matched to HMM’s China India Express service (CIX) vessel arrivals to reduce transit times, thereby allowing CIX import customers in the NCR the quickest transits in the market, the company said in a statement.
BMCT, one of the five container terminals operating at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), is run by Singapore’s PSA International Pte Ltd.
The total rail transit times (including dwell time) from JNPT to the NCR are already the shortest amongst the participating west coast ports of India, by an average of 72 hours for the first 8 months of 2019, according to the Logistics Data Bank. “This block train initiative will reduce transit times and increases competitiveness,” Sanjay Sethi, Chairman, JNPT said after flagging off the first block train service from BMCT on Wednesday.
JNPT handled its highest ever rail throughput of 70,398 in August 2019, with the rail share of JNPT’s total volume rising to 16.2 per cent. JNPT and all stakeholders are collaborating closely to build on this progress and continue the modal shift to rail, Sethi said.
“HMM’s customers will now enjoy even quicker connections from the vessel to hinterland, an important aspect of end-to-end connection. We look forward to working with PSA India and CONCOR on more of such initiatives,” H J Sung, managing director, HMM India said.
“We are developing more products through PSA India’s Cargo Solutions team. BMCT’s railyard is already capable of handling 1.5km long / 360-TEU Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) trains. We eagerly await the DFC’s completion, which will be a game changer for the market,” said Mike Formoso, managing director, PSA India.
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