BENGALURU: The first Kisan Rail from Karnataka chugged off at 4.45 pm on Saturday from KSR railway station (Bengaluru City) to Hazrat Nizammudin station (in Delhi). It left in the midst of pouring rain from Platform six bearing 30 tonnes of vegetables and other agricultural products.
Running exclusively for farmers, Kisan Specials are aimed at helping them transport agricultural produce, especially perishable commodities, at cheaper rates than other modes of transportation. This is the second such train from South India with the first one departing from Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh to Adarsh Nagar in New Delhi on September 9.
Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Bengaluru Division, A N Krishna Reddy and a few railway staffers waved the customary green flag to set the train moving on its 2571-km journey. The Train no. 00625 will reach Nizammudin at 11.45 pm on Monday (September 21), said an official release.
The train will have halts at Mysuru, Hassan, Arsikere, Davanagere, Hubballi Londa, Belagavi, Miraj, Pune Manmad, Bhusaval, Itarsi, Bhopal, Jhansi, Agra Cantonment and Mathura. “It will pick up agricultural products en route,” Reddy told TNIE.
The train special will depart on five consecutive Saturdays at 4.45 pm and will reach New Delhi on Mondays at 11.45 pm. The last trip will be on October 17 and will start the return journey at 11 am pm on five consecutive Tuesdays to reach KSR Bengaluru at 7.45 pm on Thursdays. The first trip will be on September 22 and the last one on October 20.
The special has a composition of 12 LHB Coaches comprising 10 VPH (High Capacity Parcel Vans) and 2 Brake Luggage cum Generator Cars, it added.