In an attempt to bring down the transportation costs of horticulture products like tomatoes to the north of India, the state government has urged the railways to provide open wagons for the trains bound for Delhi and Mumbai.
According to information, this option would bring down the costs considerably compared to transport by road. The farmers and the firms engaged in exports are incurring huge expenditure on freight transport. It is, in turn, impacting the price being paid to the farmers due to non-availability of good freight facility to Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati and other places, horticulture officials say.
Department Commissioner Chiranjiv Choudhary wrote to the SCR seeking “at least two open wagons” in the Sampark Kranthi Express and the AP Express and two open wagons to Guwahati. Similarly, “one or two cold rakes” need to be provided for the trains running from Chittoor to Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai.
