Northern Railways to launch special freight trains for apples
Northern Railways is rolling out a new freight train service to move apples from Kashmir straight to Delhi.
The trains will run between Budgam and Adarsh Nagar, aiming to make apple transport faster and cheaper—especially helpful since highway closures often slow things down.
Bashir Ahmad Basheer, who leads the region's fruit growers union, said the decision to launch the freight trains comes at an opportune time, just weeks before the beginning of the apple harvesting season.
The rail service will help the growers
The launch lines up perfectly with apple harvest season, when Kashmir ships out most of India's apples.
With 2,000-3,000 trucks usually leaving daily during peak time, this new rail service should make distribution smoother and help growers get their fruit to market on time—boosting both efficiency and profits for the valley's apple trade.