India will partner Japan for providing scheduled freight rail services between Delhi and Bengaluru.
Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has picked logistics firm Nippon Express.
It will collaborate with Indian Railways and Container Corporation of India for providing rail services.
The services will transport finished cars as well as general cargo.
The first train service will depart from Delhi for Bengaluru on January 20 and will make a return journey on January 24.
The transit time for the service is less than 70 hours on each side.
The train service would lead to additional freight volumes. It would also promote increased frequency on the route.
Presently, only one time-tabled freight train is running on the Delhi-Bengaluru route.
Nippon Express will be the first major foreign player running a time-tabled freight train for Indian railways.
Japan is also heading India’s high-speed bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Of an estimated ₹97,636 crore, 81% of the funding for the 508-km project will come in as a loan from Japan.
Further, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is providing assistance to the Indian Railways in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor.
JICA signed an agreement with the Indian government to provide ₹6,100 crore in loans for the Dedicated Freight Corridor Project.
