ECR to launch `roll on- roll off’ service

Daisy
Patna : Buoyed by the successful experiment by the Konkan railways, East Central Railway ( ECR ) in Bihar has decided to introduce ‘ roll on – roll off’ service to facilitate transportation of heavily loaded or empty vehicles through the newly commissioned Digha – Sonepur railway bridge. ECR GM A K Mittal recently inspected the sites of these terminals to launch this service in Bihar.

Under the new system, railways would carry loaded and empty vehicles ( trucks ) through the bridge with an aim to taking load pressure off the Mahatma Gandhi Setu as well as Mokama rail bridge. This system was first introduced in the Konkan railways way back in 1999 and it proved successfulyielding good revenue to the railways, said ECR CPRO Arvind Rajak.

Keeping this in mind, railways has built ECR freight terminals at Bihta on the outskirts of Patna on the southern end of the Digha bridge and at Turki and Narayanpur Anand near Muzaffarpur on the northern end of the bridge in North Bihar. This new experiment is likely to benefit businessmen of the state in carrying their consignments hassle free to their destinations, he said.

Rajak said, the freight tariff fixed by railways is Rs 4,000 per truck for carrying loaded trucks up to 15 tonne between Bihta and Turki terminals while it would charge Rs 2,650 per empty truck However, a sum of Rs 200 will be charged per tonne extra, he said.

Besides, railways would charge Rs 5,000 per loaded truck up to 15 tonne between Bihta and Narayanpur Anand and a sum of Rs 3,000 will be charged per empty truck, he said adding railways will realize Rs 250 per truck extra carrying more than 15 tonne load, Rajak said. He said the ‘ roll on-roll off’ service by railways would surely facilitate business community people in carrying their consignments by truckswithout facing traffic snarls on the Gandhi Setu.