BMCT will designate the Kathuwas and Jakhwada RTHs as BMCT’s inland extended gateways for North and West India whilst Concor will ensure competitive rail freight costs and transit times between BMCT and the RTHs in addition to providing competitive pre/on-carriage rail options.

The aggregation of all North and West India-destined boxes onto a single train at BMCT in the gateway port of JNPT will enhance train utilisation. At the same time, Concor will also be given priority handling of its trains at BMCT.

The speedy transhipment at Concor’s RTHs, says the joint statement, will ensure boxes reach their destination on time. The end result is that shipping lines using BMCT’s rail terminal can enjoy a higher service level overall at a much more competitive cost.

BMCT’s rail facilities will be the largest in India and the only on-dock Dedicated Freight Corridor compliant facilities in JNPT, capable of handling 1.5km long, 360 TEU container trains on completion of the DFC.

Concor and BMCT will also provide two further enhancements to the service offering. Firstly, Dronagari Rail Terminal will be designated as a Direct Port Delivery point for longer stay import boxes, removing traffic from the roads and providing a more effective evacuation option. Secondly, BMCT will work in partnership with Concor to offer shipping lines domestic repositioning of their empty containers, a service currently not available at terminals in JNPT due to the lack of capacity.

Mr Kalyana Rama, Chairman and Managing Director of Concor, said, “The percentage of rail cargoes handled at JNPT, despite the benefits of rail versus road, has continued to decline to a figure of 12% recently. Concor has made significant investments in multimodal logistics hubs and rail transhipment hubs in several locations to extend its market reach and service offering to the trade, complementing BMCT’s investment in its rail facilities.

“By working together to provide superior service levels and offerings via our RTHs, we have no doubt that rail percentage in JNPT will see a major upswing with the commissioning of BMCT and we aim to see 35% of volumes at BMCT handled by rail once the DFC is completed.”

BMCT’s CEO Suresh Amirapu, said: “Concor and BMCT are partnering alongside each other to open a new chapter in the handling of rail containers at JNPT. This partnership between India’s largest and most advanced rail container terminal facility at BMCT and with Concor, India’s largest container train operator, will bring a significant enhancement in service levels to the trade. We also eagerly await completion of the DFC to unleash the full benefits of our facility.”