Indian Railways has launched its longest-ever freight train, ‘Rudrastra’, on the Grand Chord rail section. The train is about 4.5 kilometres long, formed
by linking six standard rakes into one unit. It has 354 wagons and is powered by seven locomotives. The train travelled from Ganjkhwaja station in Uttar Pradesh to Garhwa Road station in Jharkhand, covering a 200-kilometre journey in about five hours at an average speed of 40 km per hour. Part of the route ran along the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) before switching to normal tracks.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared a video of the train on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption, “‘Rudrastra’ – Bharat’s longest freight train (4.5 km long).”
What Makes ‘Rudrastra’ Special?
According to Railway officials, running these six rakes separately would have meant repeating crew arrangements, scheduling, and routing six times. By operating them together as ‘Rudrastra,’ the Railways can save time, manpower, and operational costs. This method also makes freight movement faster and more economical, a major boost for India’s logistics sector.
The project requires special technical coordination and control, which is successfully managed by the DDU Division of East Central Railway. The division is known for repairing and technically inspecting freight wagons before they are reassembled for operations.
Railway officials called the achievement a proof of the division’s efficiency, innovation, and teamwork.
Global Comparison
While ‘Rudrastra’ is India’s longest freight train, the world record still belongs to Australia’s BHP company. Their train stretched 7.3 kilometres and had 682 wagons.
Still, Indian Railways’ new achievement is seen as a major step towards world-class freight operations.
