The Solapur Division of Central Railway (CR) on Friday inaugurated direct transportation of silk cocoons from the sericulture hubs of Pandharpur and Kalaburagi to Ramanagaram, Karnataka, Asia’s largest silk cocoon market.
The service commenced on November 27, providing farmers with a faster, more economical route to sell their produce.
Previously, while Solapur Division trains like 16536 Pandharpur–Mysuru Gol Gumbaz Express and 17308 Bagalkot-Mysuru Basava Express passed through Ramanagaram, silk cocoons could not be booked due to the trains’ short halts of less than five minutes.
To address this, Central Railway and South Western Railway (SWR) collaborated to facilitate direct booking, with CR handling loading and SWR managing unloading.
On the inaugural day, a farmers’ group from Pandharpur booked 38 bags weighing 1,500 kg, benefiting from rail transport costing less than Rs 5 per kg, which is over 30 per cent cheaper than road transport.
The move provides farmers with direct market access, reduces logistics costs, and opens a new revenue stream for the Railways.
This initiative stems from the Amrit Samvad programme, a stakeholder engagement platform under the Ministry of Railways, which helped Solapur Division officials understand farmers’ needs directly.
The daily train services are as follows:
Train 16536 Gol Gumbaz Express: Departs Pandharpur at 13:00 hrs and Solapur at 15:30 hrs toward Ramanagaram.
Train 17308 Basava Express: Departs Solapur at 19:30 hrs and Kalaburagi at 21:15 hrs toward Ramanagaram.
The Solapur Division urged silk cocoon farmers to take advantage of these daily rail services to ensure timely and cost-effective transport to the market.