The railways will begin its Kisan Rail services to transport perishables from August 7, it said on Thursday, adding the first such train, carrying vegetables and fruits, would run between Devlali in Maharashtra and Danapur in Bihar.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced this special train in her last budget speech.
The ‘Kisan Rail’ train will run on a weekly basis. It will start from Deolali in Maharashtra’s Nashik at 11 am today and will reach Danapur in Bihar at 6.45 pm on August 8.
The train will be flagged off via video conferencing by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchyati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar and Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal.
The Railways said that aggressive marketing is being done with local farmers, loaders, APMC and individuals. “Wide publicity is being done in print and electronic media.
Demand is being aggregated and it is expected that the train will be patronised well and will be a great help to the farmers, as the freight of this train will be charged at ‘P’ Scale,” the Railways said.
