TWO LONG HAUL FREIGHT TRAINS ‘TRISHUL’ AND ‘GARUDA’ OPERATED OVER SOUTH CENTRAL RAILWAY FOR THE FIRST TIME

TWO LONG HAUL FREIGHT TRAINS ‘TRISHUL’ AND ‘GARUDA’ OPERATED OVER SOUTH CENTRAL RAILWAY FOR THE FIRST TIME

Context:

Indian Railways has successfully operated two long haul freight trains “Trishul" and “Garuda" for the 1st time over South Central Railway(SCR).

Long haul trains:

• These are twice or multiple times longer than the normal composition of freight trains.
• These provide a very effective solution to the problem of capacity constraints in critical sections.

Trishul:

• It is SCR’s first long haul comprising of three freight trains, i.e., 177 wagons.
• It was started on 07.10.2021 from Kondapalli station of Vijayawada division to Khurda division of East Coast Railway.

Garuda:

• SCR followed Trishul with the running of yet another similar one named Garuda on 08.10.2021.
• It ran from Raichur of Guntakal division to Manuguru of Secunderabad division.
• In both cases, the long haul trains comprised of empty open wagons for loading of coal meant for predominantly thermal power stations.

SCR:

• It is one of the 5 major freight loading railways on IR.
• The bulk of SCR’s freight traffic moves in certain arterial routes such as Kazipet-Secunderabad-Wadi, Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada-Gudur-Renigunta, Ballarshah-Kazipet-Vijayawada, Vijayawada-Guntur-Guntakal sections.