India's Debutant Rail Auto Hub Flags Off First Batch Of Cars

The rail auto hub at Walajabad railway station (Tamil Nadu) was announced in February in the rail budget and was inaugurated in March.

The rail auto hub at Walajabad in Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu, has dispatched its first batch of cars, that will be transported by the freight train. The country's first rail auto hub was announced during the rail budget in February and was inaugurated by the railway minister Suresh Prabhu.

The railway station is nearly hundred kms away from Tamil Nadu's capital – Chennai. It is situated at a distance of approximately twelve - forty kms from leading automakers' (such as Hyundai, Ford and Nissan) manufacturing facilities. The vehicles will be transported into the wagon through specially constructed stone-paved tracks.

The first batch which left the Walajabad railway station had 124 cars from the Korean auto major - Hyundai. Hyundai's manufacturing facility is located in Sriperumbudur, while the vehicles are bound for Changsari, Kamrup district of Assam. The specially designed train has twenty-five wagons and each wagon is capable of carrying five cars. The southern railway will reportedly earn INR 16.37 lakhs from this trip.

The new rail auto hub in Walajabad is expected to transport more than one million vehicles yearly from auto hubs in Oragadam, Sriperumbudur and Singaperumal Kovil. Moreover, it will also get cars from Tamil Nadu's adjoining states as well.

Also Read: 10 Year Old Diesel Cars Banned in Kerala, Other States Might Follow

Source: ET Auto