Gateway Rail Freight Limited (GatewayRail) - subsidiary of Gateway Distriparks Limited - and India’s largest private container train operator, commenced double stack container train operations from its Garhi Harsaru rail terminal on Friday, 21 Oct.
The double stack train carrying containers to the ports of Mundra and Pipavav was flagged off by S.K Budhalakoti, General Manager, Northern Railway. Speaking at the occasion, he said that it was a proud moment for the Railways and he congratulated Gateway Rail for this achievement.
The function was attended by senior officers of Northern Railway. The double-stack train carried containers of major shipping lines, viz., Maersk , Yang Ming , MSC, CSAV, Evergreen, OOCL, NYK, PAL, CMA, MOL, Pan Asia, Albatross, Hamburg Sud and Zim.
Commenting on the milestone, Prem Kishan Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, GatewayRail said :
“We acquired Garhi Harsaru way back in 2004 - which, at that time was a road based CFS - with the vision of making it into a rail linked ICD. After obtaining the Category - I license in February 2006, the terminal has been continuously developed and the master plan envisaged the location as a major double-stack rail-terminal hub. With the commencement of double-stack container train operations today, we have taken the first major step in translating our vision into reality.
This will increase capacity on the NCR-Gujarat ports route and improve the capability of rail operations. With increasing frequency of double-stack trains, rail transportation will become more economical and this will benefit our customers. The rail terminal at Garhi Harsaru - with its wide rail yard and twin lines with another two lines to be added shortly - has the ideal infrastructure for double-stack operations.
"We thank the Railways for making double-stack container trains a reality and helping us achieve this important milestone. It is expected that Double Stack Operations will increase rail handling capacity at the NCR terminals and the ports and allow India’s trade to maintain its growth path.