Railways transport passenger buses from Bengaluru to Chandigarh to cut costs

This is the first time, Indian Railways has been transporting buses through railways. Tractors and two-wheelers were first transported by goods trains in the past.

Bengaluru Rural: In a major development, Indian Railways has achieved a significant milestone by transporting another rake of passenger buses from Doddaballapura in Bengaluru Rural, Karnataka to Chandigarh. These Ashok Leyland buses will be used by the Himachal Road Transport Corporation. "Railways transporting Buses! Indian Railways has transported another rake (2nd) of Passenger Buses from Doddaballapur of Bengaluru, Karnataka to Chandigarh. #HungryForCargo,” the Ministry of Railways tweeted sharing a video of the rake being transported.

Tweeting in Kannada, the South Western Railway wrote: “New milestone in automobile transport from Bengaluru. 2nd rake of Ashok Leyland buses being transported from Chandigarh to Bengaluru for the use of Himachal Road Transport Corporation.” The buses are transported by the goods train to Chandigarh, 2,825 km away from Doddaballapura.

In this regard, Ashok Leyland Production Unit has signed an agreement with Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation to produce a total of 300 buses. The Bus Chassis was built in Hosur, Tamil Nadu while the bodies were made near Makali in Nelamangala, Bangalore Rural District. The big challenge was to transport the buses to Himachal Pradesh. The cost of transportation would have been much more expensive if the buses were to be transported by road.

But Ashok Leyland rightly took the decision to transport buses on the goods train to reduce shipping costs. This is the first, time Indian Railways has been transporting buses through railways. Tractors and two-wheelers were first transported by goods trains. The goods train to carry 32 buses started from Doddaballapura on May 15. and expected to reach Chandigarh after 5 days.

The second train with 32 buses also leaves for Chandigarh on May 20. These goods trains will travel to Chandigarh via Doddaballapura, Yelahanka, Vijayawada, and Bhopal. So far, two trains carrying 32 buses each have left(a total of 64). Nowadays, most railways are electrified. For this, bus height was reduced by removing the air in tires to prevent it from touching a power line.

Shipping is going on the right path leaving the tunnel and underpass. Security guards are deployed to ensure that the spare parts of the buses are not stolen.