Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Chief Minister of Karnataka B S Yediyurappa and Suresh C Angadi, Minister of State of Railways, flagged off first ever Roll On Roll Off (RORO) service of South Western Railway from Nelamangla (near Bengaluru) to Bale (near Solapur) on August 30, 2020.
Speaking on the occasion, Karnataka CM Yediyurappa said, “Our beloved PM Narendra Modi ji is emphasising on Multimodal connectivity. APMC Markets in the region offer tremendous scope for RORO.” He congratulated inister of State of Railways Suresh C Angadi for taking lead in the initiative and assured full cooperation from State Government.
Angadi said, “Multimodal connectivity is dream of the Prime Minister. Thousands of trucks are plying between Bengaluru and Solapur. With RORO travel time will be just 17 hours. This is trial run that got delayed due to COVID. Kisan Rail has started to help farmers-agricultural produce can be transported across the country.” The RORO service will bring faster development in the region. He congratulated customer of today’s RORO service for taking initiative. He also congratulated all Railway staff for doing mammoth work.
Roll On Roll Off is a concept of carrying road vehicles loaded with various commodities on open flat railway wagons. The PM, n his recent Independence day speech, had envisaged multimodal connectivity to take India to next level of development, according to a PIB release
RORO services are combination of best features of road and rail transports in the sense that they offer door to door service. Road transport has advantage of door to door delivery of goods. However, increasing traffic on roads is leading to congestion and delays to passenger vehicles. This will cause unsafe travel conditions. Also, delays at inter-state check-posts due to inspection of various documents, etc. contribute to increased travel time.
On the other hand, Railways provide hassle free and environmentally friendly transport to medium to large quantum of freight. Rail transport is most fuel efficient of all means of transport and is much safer than road.