APL IndiaLinx, a part of the global transportation and logistics group Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), has launched a container rail service connecting New Delhi and Mumbai.
This follows a recent move by India's Railway Ministry to attract private investment and public-private partnership to expand the country's railway infrastructure.
The service is intended to provide solutions to congestion problems by offering shorter transit times to inland container shipping points. The service will also provide first and last mile connectivity via trucking services, a company statement said.
"By owning our own wagons, and organising our own timetable, we can offer India's shippers a single point of contact for the co-ordination of the inland and ocean portions of their transport in India," said NOL south Asia president Kenneth Glenn.
While the initial focus will be on the New Delhi-Mumbai corridor, the Category 1 licence enables APL IndiaLinx to run trains without limitations throughout India. The first train departed ICD Loni Near Delhi for Mumbai at the end of last month.
APL IndiaLinx was established through a joint venture between NOL and Hindustan Infrastructure Projects and Engineering (HIPE). The JV formally received a Category 1 licence to run trains for 20 years.
In India, APL and APL Logistics have a countrywide network of 26 offices with 350 employees. APL offers weekly container shipping services from 12 Indian ports of call to more than 25,000 locations around the world.
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