India is going to change the face of rail transport with its first hydrogen-fuelled train, to be tested on a route between Haryana's Jind and Sonipat stations. Designed by the Research, Design, and Standard Organisation (RDSO), this is an initiative that makes India one among a small group of nations looking into hydrogen as a fuel for the railways. The hydrogen train is a first-of-its-kind large-scale endeavour in the world. It is likely to be tested for the last time in the first quarter of the next year. RDSO has designed it with much care and added modern utility and innovation to make it on par with the global level. The project was first introduced in December 2021, when the design was presented during the International Innovative Rail Expo in Lucknow. While hydrogen fuel has been tested in road transport, its application in railways is still in its nascent stages worldwide. India's advancements in this domain signify a major leap toward sustainable energy," said RDSO Director General Uday Borwankar while highlighting the features of the train. The hydrogen-powered train has eight passenger coaches with a carrying capacity of 2,638 passengers per trip. Additionally, three more coaches have space for hydrogen cylinders and store integrated fuel cell converters, batteries, and air reservoirs. At a maximum speed of 110 km/h, this train is suited for shorter distances, and it has already been integrated at the Chennai Integral Coach Factory. Hydrogen-powered trains generate electricity through the reaction of fuel cells combining hydrogen and oxygen to power the motor. While Germany and China are leading the way in hydrogen rail transport, success remains on smaller scales. In Germany, for example, there are hydrogen trains that run only two coaches. India's hydrogen train will not only represent the nation's commitment to green energy but also place it ahead of the pack in regards to sustainable transportation. Officials have unofficially referred to the train as "Namo Green Rail," but indicated that the name will come at launch. The nation breathes in as it eagerly awaits the trial run while this ambitious project reaffirms India's strides toward a greener, cleaner future in rail mobility.

The first shipments on a newly-launched railway line from the Myanmar border to the key commercial hub of Chengdu in western China, that provides China a new road-rail transportation channel to the Indian Ocean, were delivered last week, state media reported on Tuesday. A “test cargo” through what is being called the China-Myanmar New Passage arrived at the Chengdu rail port in Sichuan province on August 27, the official China News Service reported. The transport corridor involves a sea-road-rail link. Goods from Singapore reached Yangon Port, arriving by ship through the Andaman Sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean, and were then transported by road to Lincang on the Chinese side of the Myanmar-China border in Yunnan province. The new railway line that runs from the border town of Lincang to Chengdu, a key trade hub in western China, completes the corridor. “This passage connects the logistics lines of Singapore, Myanmar and China, and is currently the most convenient land and sea channel linking the Indian Ocean with southwest China,” the China News Service said, adding that "the one-way journey saves 20 to 22 days.” China also has plans to develop another port in Kyaukphyu in the Rakhine state, including a proposed railway line from Yunnan directly to the port, but the progress there has been stalled by unrest in Myanmar.

The automotive manufacturing sector works on ‘Just-In-Time’ model for the supply chains of its parts and components. Automotive manufacturers require highly reliable logistics services that can move their raw material and finished products on precise schedules to ensure uninterrupted production processes. For years several of these manufacturers based in and around Gurugram, northern part of India, have been dependent on staggered and unscheduled rail movement for their cargo going in and out of the country. Delayed imports hamper production schedules while delayed exports pile up inventories for the manufacturers. In response to the needs of the automotive sector, Maersk India has launched the first ‘Automotive Express’ whose first run was virtually flagged off on 18th April 2021 by Denmark’s Ambassador to India, His Excellency Freddy Svane. “Manufacturing is an extremely important building block of our country’s economy. As a service provider to this critical segment, our goal is to streamline their supply chains and offer highest levels of reliability” commented Vikash Agarwal, Managing Director, Maersk South Asia. He added, “With the ‘Automotive Express’, we are not only simplifying our automotive customers’ supply chains by offering integrated logistics solution that bundles ocean and landside transportation, but are also driving cost and time efficiencies through precisely scheduled movement of their cargo.” “GatewayRail is excited to jointly launch the new ‘Automotive Express’ with Maersk that connects customers to their global import and export destinations through the MECL and FI3 services at APM Terminals Pipavav Port. GatewayRail has been a pioneer in innovative intermodal services such as the ‘Ship to Rail Service’ and now the ‘Automotive Express’ and is proud to be the intermodal operator of choice for Maersk India” said Sachin Bhanushali, Director & CEO, Gateway Rail Freight. This new rail service runs from the Garhi Harsaru Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Gurugram to APM Terminals Pipavav Port for exports and return with import cargo. It will have the capacity to move 180 TEUs (Twenty Feet Equivalent Containers) each way and will support more than 25 customers from one of the most important automotive manufacturing belts of India. The customers booking their cargo on ‘Automotive Express’ will also have priority discharge from the port for higher reliability and to keep their supply chains on schedule. The ‘Automotive Express’ will connect the cargo to Maersk’s ocean transportation services from APM Terminals Pipavav to North American as well as Far East and South East Asian markets on the MECL service for exports and FI3 and MECL services for imports. With this new service, Maersk is taking a step forward towards strengthening its landside transportation offering in the country. By connecting key manufacturing hubs and ports through a solid network of trucking, rail and depots, Maersk is bringing a reliable and tailored solution to its customers. Maersk also runs other dedicated rail services for its customers that offer the movement of agricultural produce, retail, apparel, furniture and stones from several states across North India for export and import. Maersk runs two dedicated rail services for exports and four dedicated rail services for imports in collaboration with GatewayRail and has completed around 200 dedicated trips in past two years.

The CMA CGM Group and The Thar Dry Port (A unit of Hasti Petro Chemical & Shipping) jointly received their first-ever block train. This new service is the first block train by a shipping line between Mundra and Thar Dry Port (ICD) at Sanand, Gujarat. The fully loaded 90-TEU train was flagged off from Mundra port on April 02 and was received at ICD Sanand on April 03 in the presence of representatives from The Thar Dry Port and CMA CGM India. Fixed window and dedicated train service for Sanand for import shipments The new weekly block train service is the first and only block train service by any shipping line, for Ahmedabad, Ex- Mundra. The train provides fixed window and dedicated service for customer import shipments ensuring a reliable departure schedule. The schedule departure of train from Mundra Port will be on every Saturday/Sunday. This new service from Mundra to Sanand offers customers effective cargo handling and provides priority loading for urgent import shipments with no additional cost. Another key feature of the service is to have no partial loading from Mundra, as all the containers will arrive together as per bill of lading (BL). Going forward, the CMA CGM Group is planning on streamlining the service even more to have a priority connection with the Group’s Indamex and EPIC services, two major services of CMA CGM India, calling the Gujarat region. CMA CGM, an expert in intermodal solutions committed to meeting its customers’ needs The CMA CGM Group is an industry pioneer offering customised, innovative and customer centric intermodal solutions for seamless continental connections. This new block train service is another example of the Group’s commitment to offering its Indian customers the best service, wherever they are located in the country. CMA CGM is developing sustainable door-to-door solutions to allow its customers to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of their transported goods. Compared to cargo movement via truck, the block train option reduces CO2 emissions by up to 67%. Present in India for more than 30 years, the CMA CGM Group employs 4,700 staff members in India. It connects the country to the rest of the world with 12 services making 12 calls weekly. On the launch of this block train service, Atit Mahajan, Managing Director, CMA CGM India said, “CMA CGM is the pioneer in providing a seamless and connected intermodal network in India, and we are pleased to team up with Hasti Petro Chemical & Shipping Ltd to serve India’s hinterland and meet our customers’ needs across the country.” Hasti Petro Chemical & Shipping Limited (HPCSL), a leading logistics supply chain player Incorporated in 1991, Hasti Petro Chemical & Shipping Limited (HPCSL) is a pioneer and market leader in providing tailor-made intermodal logistics solution for containerised movement of export and import/coastal and domestic cargo by rail and road through ICD’s at Sanand – Gujarat and Jodhpur – Rajasthan under the brand name– The Thar Dry Port. HPCSL has established itself as a trusted tested reliable logistics supply chain partner with   dedicated team of professionals in ICD terminal services, 3PL warehousing/transportation distribution, special handling of auto rakes with robust infrastructure at both locations with additional ICDs coming up at Jaipur & Baroda. With an infrastructure consisting of 8 railway rakes, 418 trailers, container handling equipment’s, 100-acre land, 3 lakh sq ft of bonded and non-bonded warehousing, HPCSL handles through put of 1.5 lakh TEUs per annum, currently. HPCSL is a diversified– flagship of different verticals, i.e. petrol pumps, gas agencies, hotels, IMFL blending & bottling plants, and real-estate – and possessing unique management expertise to meet the needs of a wide range of customers. Under the unwavering commitment of Ruchir Parekh, Managing Director and CEO of the Group, the business has grown to unprecedented height with a vision to become one of the largest players in private sector with state of art Inland Container Depots/Container Freight Stations in India.

According to the reports, several companies including Konkan Railway Corporation, Sonu Cargo Movers, Om Logistics, Inland World Logistics (IWL), SSK Devcon, Pal Enterprises have recently participated in the pre-bid meeting to run Roll On-Roll Off (RORO) trains on the dedicated rail freight corridor. RORO trains will enable movement of loaded or unloaded trucks between two points. The pre-bid meeting was said to be held by Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL), which had invited bids to run Roll On Roll Off on a 636 km track between New Rewari and New Palanpur, and back. Konkan Railway has experience in running RORO trains in the Western region. This section is targeted to be operational in March 2021, and DFCCIL expects to attract many new traffic to the western freight corridor. At present, approximately 2,500-3,000 trucks ply daily between Rewari – Palanpur, according to official sources. All these trucks –with or without load – can simply drive on to a train and that train can move the truck fast between two points. On the freight corridor, traffic will move at 75 km per hour, providing assured transit and delivery time of about 10 hours against 24-36 hours by road. The solution is expected to be attractive in the backdrop of higher diesel prices plaguing transporters on road more than the railways.

For the first time post the COVID-19 pandemic, the cumulative freight revenue of Indian Railways has surged past last year's levels to Rs 98,068.45 crore, as compared to Rs 97,342.14 crore recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year. The Railway Ministry said that on a month-on-month basis as well, the Railways has overtaken last year's freight revenue figures in the first 12 days of February by 5 per cent. The ministry said that on a monthly basis, the freight revenue has surged Rs 206 crore in February 2021 compared to the corresponding period of February last year. It said that as per the estimates, Railways' freight revenue stood at Rs 4,571 crore for the first 12 days of February as compared to Rs 4,365 crore for the same period in the last financial year. It said that incidentally loading is also ahead by almost 8 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of last year. "Railways has achieved this turnaround due to an extraordinary set of new initiatives being taken in improving business development, incentives, speed and customisation," the Railways said. It also said that freight loading has been showing higher figures since August 21 last year as compared to the corresponding period of the previous financial year. "This is for the first time post-COVID lockdown that freight revenue for the month is showing higher estimates as compared to the same period last year," it said. The Railways added that higher freight revenue for the month is a great signal of an all round economic recovery that is sweeping the country and speaks volumes about the new management initiatives being taken in Railways to boost business and further improve freight operations.

Flexibility and reliability in supply chains have become an important aspect for importers and exporters, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic hit global trade last year. Indian exporters have been exploring possibilities of scaling up production and shipping it out of India to global markets. The underlying challenges in the post-COVID ecosystem, however, have limited the opportunities from time to time for such exporters - one of the biggest challenges being that of space availability from certain pockets within the country. One of the largest exporters of iron pipes from the Eastern part of India was facing a similar issue with lack of adequate availability and connectivity of vessels. Maersk, with its commitment towards building integrated container logistics solutions for its customers stepped in to resolve the problem. Building a truly end-to-end solution for the customer, Maersk offered to move the Doha-destined cargo on a dedicated train from Kolkata to Nhava Sheva port - this was the first time that such a movement took place from the East Coast of India to the West Coast - and then connecting the cargo to the required vessel. Not only was the landside transportation taken care of, Maersk also executed export customs clearance of the cargo before loading it on to the vessel. The cargo is expected to reach its destination in Doha over the coming days. Commenting on the historic move in landside logistics in India, Steve Felder, Managing Director, Maersk South Asia said, “At Maersk, we believe in enabling trade by designing solutions that connect and simplify our customers’ supply chains. We have recognised the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered in the ecosystem and are innovating solutions that didn’t exist in the past.” He added, “By providing landside movement on rail, customs clearance and ocean shipping out of India, we have offered the customer a truly end to end solution. With the first successful run, we are now looking forward to scaling it up in the coming weeks.”