Vijayawada, India – The Vijayawada division of South Coast Railway (SCoR) loaded its first rake of wood pulp on Saturday, carrying the consignment from Kakinada Port to Bhigwan in Maharashtra. Imported wood pulp has been transported by road from Kakinada to paper industries in Maharashtra for the last 15 years. Identifying the potential to shift this traffic to rail, SCoR, in association with industry representatives, studied the actual loading requirements and the tariff structure.
To improve freight revenue, railway officials held discussions with industry experts and submitted a proposal to the Railway Board in July 2026 for suitable rating of wood pulp. Based on the proposal, pulp has now been included as a commodity in the goods tariff under Class-110, paving the way for a considerable reduction in freight charges for the new commodity, said SCoR Chief Public Relations Officer Y. Balaji Kiran in a release.
As a result of this tariff rationalisation, the 1,061-km long-lead traffic has been successfully diverted from road to rail, and the first rake carrying imported wood pulp was loaded at Kakinada Port to Bhigwan in Maharashtra. The freight earning from each rake is about ₹40 lakh. “SCoR expects to generate around 1.5 lakh tonnes of additional loading per annum, with an estimated annual freight revenue of approximately ₹20 crore from this traffic,” Balaji Kiran said.
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SCoR General Manager Sandeep Mathur congratulated Principal Chief Operations Manager Vineet Kumar, Principal Chief Commercial Manager K. Sambasiva Rao, Vijayawada Divisional Railway Manager Mohit Sonakiya, and other officers for their achievement. The shift of wood pulp from road to rail is expected to reduce logistics costs for the industry while boosting the railways’ freight earnings, marking a significant win for both the transport sector and the paper industry.
