Just a couple of months after launching it’s first rail offering, Gujrat Pipavav Ports and Indian Railways’ joint venture – Pipavav Rail Corporation – launched a regular double stack, hub-and-spoke rail connection to Jodhpur last week. APM Terminals Pipavav is a growing private harbour on India’s west coast and rolled out customer-centric container rail services connecting to Jodhpur Inland Container Depot, a key interior point in the north.
The move was made keeping in mind the growing importance of value added services in long-haul freight contracts and the shift of terminal operators’ priority towards inland services. It increases the carrying capacity per trip from 90 teu to the double figure of 180 teu.
The initiative is likely to help the trade to connect with their markets quickly and competitively. It is a weekly service but not always double-stack” APMT Pipavav
The hub-and-spoke model helps the cargo owners to gain access to various other ICDs in India, in addition to other advantages like shorter transit times and time-definite delivery of their exports and imports.
Customer centricity is at the core of all our initiatives. The rail connection to Jodhpur via Sanand on a hub-and-spoke model will give an edge to our customers.” Jakob Friis Sorenson, MD, APMT Pipavav
In a conventional setup operating on the off-yard scheme, trains operate on a first-in first-out basis which leads to turnaround delays, thereby putting a negative impact on the ICD cargo movement in and out of the port. Stemming from the need to eliminate such delays, there has been an increased investment in double stack train offerings along with priority terminal handling as it increases viability of railways over road transport to hinterland shippers.
Pipavav is India’s first public-private-partnership port venture with multipurpose cargo infrastructure. Located about 150 nautical miles from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (Nhava Sheva), it is currently capable of handling 1.35m teu, as well as nes of dry bulk, 2m tonnes of liquid bulk cargo and about 250,000 finished cars, annually.
