Vasuki Freight Train: Here's all you need to know about Indian Railways' longest freight train

On 22 January 2021, the South East Central Railway (SECR) zone in Chattisgarh created a record of successfully operating the longest freight train on the Indian Railways network by amalgamating five rakes of goods trains as one unit, breaking its previous record. 

नित नए कीर्तिमान बनाती रेलवे द्वारा, आज देश में पहली बार 5 रेक जोड़कर 3.5 किमी लंबी वासुकी ट्रेन का संचालन किया गया।

यह मालढुलाई के क्षेत्र में बड़ा परिवर्तन लाते हुए कम समय में अधिक औद्योगिक उत्पादों को पहुंचाना सुनिश्चित करेगा। pic.twitter.com/jKJu8HUAaq

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) January 22, 2021

As per a statement released by the Indian Railways, "SECR Raipur division for the first time amalgamated five rakes of freight coaches from Bhilai D Cabin till Korba which falls under the Bilaspur division." 

Raipur Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Shyam Sunder Gupta stated, "It was a great achievement of the Raipur Railway division of SECR. The concerned officials kept a close watch on any possibility of a technical issue that might crop up as the long train passed through various stations."

Highlights:

1- The total length of the freight train was around 3.5 kilometres. 

2- The freight train was named 'Vasuki'.

3- The train covered a distance of 224 kilometres from Bhilai D Cabin till Korba which falls under the Bilaspur division in seven hours.

4- The Vasuki train comprised of 300 wagons of long haul rake of five goods trains and was operated by one pilot, one assistant loco pilot and a guard.

Previous records:

1- On 29 June 2020, SECR successfully operated 177 loaded wagons of 2 km long freight train named 'Super Anaconda'. Three goods trains were connected using the latest technology of Distributed Power Control System (DPCS) that travelled between Lajkura and Raurkela. 

Taking a big leap in reducing the transit time of freight trains, Bilaspur division of SECR broke yet another frontier by joining & running 3 loaded trains (more than 15000 tonnes) in 'Anaconda' formation through Bilaspur & Chakradharpur divisions. pic.twitter.com/5lZlQHDpkI

— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) June 30, 2020

2- On 2 July 2020, SECR successfully operated 251 empty wagons of 2.8 km long freight train named 'SeshNaag'.  4 empty BOXN rakes, powered by 4 sets of electric locomotives travelled between Nagpur and Korba. 

"SheshNaag" Running on Track:

Boosting freight transportation, Indian Railways has run longest goods train ever, "SheshNaag" with 4 trains combined together, totalling to 2.8 km, between Nagpur & Korba In South East Central Railway. pic.twitter.com/oRAXP1aMaQ

— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) July 4, 2020 

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