Maersk India sees big growth in export rail movement in 2021

A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) India has recorded huge growth in the exports rail movement of containerised cargo in 2021, after introducing 13 new weekly rail services.

These rail services help deliver speed, efficiency, hinterland connectivity, and predictability to customers’ supply chains in the uncertainty of a disrupted logistics ecosystem. With these, in 2021, Maersk India has witnessed a 43% growth in the movement of containerised goods on rail and 23% growth in rail for import and export combined.

The benefits of using these rail services multi-fold for Maersk customers, these include:

Up to 30% quicker transit times as compared to road transport
Solid, unhindered connectivity between ports and manufacturing hubs
Scheduled movement for better predictability
Around 14.5 MT lower carbon footprint
The newly introduced 13 services from the company include:


© A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk)
“Being committed to connecting and simplifying our customers’ supply chains meant we had to go beyond solutions that are on the menu card,” said Vikash Agarwal, Managing Director of Maersk South Asia. “We wanted to create exciting offerings that would delight our customers, especially in the tough pandemic situation that we have been operating in.

“Having flagged 13 new services successfully over the year, Maersk is truly proud to have designed and implemented what customers needed. And it doesn’t end there – with the new environment-friendly rail service, in 2021 we reduced our carbon footprint by what is equivalent to the emissions of a car being driven around for 60,000km”

Maersk’s rail solutions has allowed it to offer “Assured transit times” to its customers. In the near-future, these are expected to aid the rising demand for sectors such as eCommerce through the dedicated services. eCommerce, which has traditionally run on road transit, is expected to move towards rail even more as it gives assured transit for time-sensitive cargo.

Akshyat Bhatia, Head of Landside Transportation at Maersk South Asia, added “Unlocking the potential rail solutions to move cargo during the toughest times of the pandemic has been hugely satisfying. To be able to play a role in developing tailor-made solutions for customers which ultimately helped the traders in the country connect to the global market was even more gratifying.”

Maersk plans to develop further on the foundation of these rail solutions in 2022.

Jyoti Mitter, Rail Product Manager at Maersk South Asia, also commented “Rail has always been considered as a second alternative road transport despite being safer and faster. Last year we have created 273 new corridors with rail as the backbone and connected our customers on this highly efficient mode of logistics all the way to their hubs of convenience.

“Having carrier more than 50,000 TEU of containers over and above the previous year and having covered 150,000km we are confident of building on this solution the coming years too.”

On 8 February 2022, PTI will be holding its Intermodal Freight Forum Europe delving into the pressing challenges and trends in intermodal freight transport. The event is set to bring together senior decision-makers from the intermodal transport network, addressing a wide range of issues from data standardisation to the lack of capacity in ports and rail.

Registration for the event can be done here.



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