Kisan Rail carried 27,000 tonnes, Devlali-Danapur most popular route

The multi-commodity train service has been popular as it also carries relatively small quantities of produce brought in by small, individual farmers. For example, there have been consignments as small as 30 kg of pomegranate from Nashik to Muzaffarpur, for which Railways charged Rs 124, or of a few dozen eggs sent from Manmad to Khandwa, for which Railways charged a freight of Rs 34.

So far, the Kisan Rail has run regularly on 10 routes. One route — between Yeshvantpur and Delhi — exhausted its seasonal demand a while ago.

Officials said that the idea is to assess local demand in a manner that a regular, weekly or biweekly train can be institutionalised without the transporter suffering any financial losses. So far, it has been a money spinner — each parcel van can carry around 23 tonnes and a Kisan Rail train of 10-15 parcel vans makes it financially comfortable for Railways.

“Ideally, when we get around 300-350 tonnes to carry over a certain distance, we don’t suffer any loss. Officials are constantly speaking to local farmers and cooperative societies to assess this kind of demand — for example seasonal produce of oranges from Nagpur to be carried to Delhi and suchlike,” said a senior government official.