A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) has launched a new weekly, dedicated rail service in India.
The ‘Pratigya Express’ will guarantee weekly cargo loading for exporters from National Capital Region (NCR) to APM Terminals Pipavav Port in Gujarat on the western coast of India.
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“The NCR is abundant with retail and rice exporters who need a regular connection from their manufacturing facilities to the consumers in the western market,” said Major Jyoti Joshi Mitter, Head of Rail, Maersk India.
“Through our dialogues with our customers, we realised that they faced two challenges – either they don’t have a fixed schedule for departure from Sonipat ICD, and once they get it, they do not necessarily make it to the right vessel connection at the port.
“Our ambition was to address both these problems with a single solution – we launched a dedicated weekly rail service that gives the exporters a fixed visibility on departure from the origin and then connects to a fixed vessel connection at the APM Terminals Pipavav Port.”
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The ‘Pratigya Express’ will move cargo from Sonipat ICD to APM Terminals Pipavav Port with a transit time of two and half days.
From there, cargo will have the option to connect on services such as the Shaheen Express, which will be launched in the coming days or the MECL. Both services will then be able to take the cargo to the Middle Eastern or European markets.
Maersk’s new ‘Pratigya Express’ service on the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) will move 90 TEU every week.
APM Terminals Pipavav is the first port to be connected to the DFC and provides connectivity to the hinterland through its rail head and road infrastructure.
Revenue for Q3 increased to $22.8 billion or by 37 per cent compared to the same period last year.
