BMCT will designate the Kathuwas and Jakhwada RTHs as BMCT’s inland extended gateways for North and West India whilst Concor will ensure competitive rail freight costs and transit times between BMCT and the RTHs in addition to providing competitive pre/on-carriage rail options.
The aggregation of all North and West India-destined boxes onto a single train at BMCT in India’s gateway port of Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNP) will enhance train utilization and Concor will also be given priority handling of its trains at BMCT, PSA International said in a press release.
BMCT’s rail facilities will be the largest in India and the only on-dock Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) compliant facilities in JNP, capable of handling 1.5km long, 360-teu container trains when it is completed.
Concor and BMCT will also provide two further enhancements to the service offering. Firstly, Dronagari Rail Terminal will be designated as a Direct Port Delivery point for longer stay import boxes, removing traffic from the roads and providing a more effective clearing option.
Secondly, BMCT will work in partnership with Concor to offer shipping lines domestic repositioning of their empty containers, a service currently not available at terminals in JNP due to the lack of capacity.
“The percentage of rail cargoes handled at JNP, despite the benefits of rail versus road, has continued to decline to a figure of 12% recently. Concor has made significant investments in Multimodal Logistics Hubs and Rail Transhipment Hubs in several locations to extend its market reach and service offering to the trade, complementing BMCT’s investment in its rail facilities,” said Concor chairman and md Kalyana Rama.
“By working together to provide superior service levels and offerings via our RTHs, we have no doubt that rail percentage in JNP will see a major upswing with the commissioning of BMCT and we aim to see 35% of volumes at BMCT handled by rail once the DFC is completed,” he added.
BMCT ceo Suresh Amirapu added: “Concor and BMCT are partnering alongside each other to open a new chapter in the handling of rail containers at JNPT. This partnership between India’s largest and most advanced rail container terminal facility at BMCT and with Concor, India’s largest container train operator, will bring a significant enhancement in service levels to the trade. We also eagerly await completion of the DFC to unleash the full benefits of our facility.”
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