Samba to get first railway freight terminal in J-K

The railway station in Samba district will soon have a freight terminal, the first of its kind in Jammu and Kashmir, having the capacity to move 6,000 to 9,000 metric tonnes of goods per day, officials said on Saturday. A team led by Chief Transport Planning Manager (CTPM), Railways, Devendra Singh visited the Samba station at Rakh Amb Tali on Saturday and took stock of the existing facilities, an official spokesman said.

He said the team assessed the requirement for infrastructure to operate the freight terminal for facilitating easy and cheaper transportation of trade goods, raw material and finished goods to benefit the traders and industrialists. Singh was accompanied by Director, Industries and Commerce, Jammu, Anoo Malhotra, Chief Engineer, Northern Railway, Vinod Tripathi and several other senior railway officers, the spokesman said.

He said an on the spot meeting was held with the local unit holders (industrialists), who vehemently demanded for making early provision for such a facility as most of the raw material is brought from outside the state. The team informed that the project is in pipeline, which has been given to a private player, the spokesman said.

He said the terminal would be expanded as per the needs of the traders and unit holders. Initially, the terminal would have the capacity to handle the movement of two to five cargo trains per day in and out, the spokesman said, adding the cargo trains would be ordinary goods trains, container trains or automobile trade trains, having the capacity to move 6,000 to 9,000 metric tonnes of goods per day.

The terminal will also handle container, brake bulk (cement or fertilizers or steel and automobiles) apart from other industrial goods, he said. The spokesman said the team also shared the plan to develop a cold chain for horticulture produce of the state.

The railway authorities informed that in due course, the terminal would also be connected to east and west freight corridors, he said.

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