Container Corp., Nippon Express collaborate for freight rail services

Jan 19, 2017: India, Japan have collaborated to provide scheduled freight rail services between Delhi and Bengaluru. Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has picked logistics firm Nippon Express to collaborate with Indian Railways and Container Corporation of India. The new rail services will transport finished cars as well as general cargo.

The first train service will depart from Delhi for Bengaluru on January 20 and will make a return journey on January 24. The transit time for the service is less than 70 hours on each side.

According to a Japanese official, the project is aimed at improving rail freight services and could be expanded throughout the country and not only on the Delhi-Bengaluru sector.

Currently, just one time-tabled freight train runs on the Delhi-Bengaluru route.

The Japanese government is also supporting India’s high-speed bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Further, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is providing assistance to the Indian Railways in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor.