Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Jan 23: In a major boost to freight operations and multimodal logistics, Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) on January 22 flagged off its first-ever container rake of polypropylene from Thokur railway station, marking the launch of a new stream of containerised cargo traffic on the Konkan Railway network.
The new traffic commenced on January 22 with the dispatch of the first container rake from Thokur. The polypropylene cargo belongs to Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) and will be transported to the Morbi region of Rajasthan. On an average, around two container rakes per month are expected to be offered by MRPL for transportation.
To facilitate containerised and other freight movement, KRCL, in association with the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), has developed modern, state-of-the-art freight infrastructure at Thokur station. The facilities include a paved wharf with approach roads, covered warehouses, open stack yards, and other advanced logistics amenities, making Thokur a well-equipped freight handling terminal.
The container traffic will be handled by the Central Warehousing Corporation using its own container rakes. For operationalising this transportation arrangement, CWC and MRPL have entered into a formal agreement.
The first rake moving from Thokur to NCLW was flagged off by managing director MRPL Mundkur Shyamprasad Kamath, managing director CWC Santosh Sinha, director (commercial and operations) KRCL Sunil Gupta, director (refinery) MRPL Nandakumar Velayudhan Pillai, director (finance) MRPL Devendra Kumar, director (finance) CWC Niraj Priyadarshi, executive director (marketing and business development) MRPL Deepak Prabhakar P, director (marketing and corporate planning) CWC Samuel Praveen Kumar, and chief commercial manager KRCL Ashutosh Srivastava.
Senior officials, including RRM KAWR KRCL, RM SBC CWC, and officers from KRCL, MRPL, and CWC, were also present, reflecting the strong collaborative effort behind the initiative.
The commencement of this containerised traffic is expected to encourage other customers to utilise the enhanced facilities at Thokur station for storage and transportation of goods. The development further reinforces Konkan Railway’s commitment to providing efficient, reliable, and customer-centric freight solutions while supporting industrial growth and logistics efficiency in the region.