Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], February 26 : The South Central Railway on wednesday launched the pilot project 'Rail Parcel App, a first-of-its-kind initiative on Indian Railways aimed at providing seamless door-to-door parcel booking and delivery service for customers at Rail Nilayam in Hyderabad.
During the launch, the General Manager of the South Central Railway (SCR), Sanjay Kumar Srivastava, expressed pride that the Railway Board had chosen the zone for this pilot project. He attributed the success to his teams and industry partners, noting they had risen to the challenge and delivered the project in record time.
"I think it is a matter of great pride for us for South Central Railway that the Railway Board has chosen us for this pilot project and all credit goes to our teams and offcourse, our industry partners who have risen to this challenge and delivered in record time," said Srivastava.
He noted that with the help of technology, the railway can provide three distinct features showcased in the presentation: door-to-door pickup and delivery, online booking, and complete visibility.
The South Central Railway also mentioned that the pilot project has currently been launched in seven cities. He emphasised that the railway's vision is to allow anyone in India to book a parcel from the convenience of their home.
"With the help of technology, we can provide all three. One is that door-to-door pick up and delivery. The other is online booking and the third is complete visibility," said Srivastava
"I must compliment our headquarters team, commercial team, as well as financial accounts team and especially our Hyderabad division team, which has worked very hard, along with the collaboration of our banking partners, our State Bank of India, our developers, our logistic partners and Chris to provide this solution in a record four months. Today, we are starting it as a pilot project only for seven cities, but based on the feedback from customers, the ultimate vision is that anyone sitting anywhere in India should be able to book a parcel from the convenience of their home. That is the vision," added Srivastava.
He further mentioned SCR has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, for the Freight Logistics Market study.
"I am also very happy to note that we have also exchanged an MOU with IIM Bangalore regarding this freight logistics segment, because when I think this organization like railways and IIM, when they collaborate, then it is a win-win situation for both. We get the fresh ideas, and of course, our IIM Bangalore partner gets a real-life laboratory to test their fresh ideas," added Srivastava.