RailEnquiry

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: 'Kairali Queen', the brainchild of the Thiruvananthapuram Railway Division authorities got moving on Wednesday with the divisional railway manager Rajesh Agrawal flagging off the Kerala Express loaded with a tonne of jackfruit, from the Central station.

It's a venture envisaged by the railway authorities to promote the state's ethnic products, especially agro goods, in north Indian cities.

The jackfruit were loaded into a special break van attached to the train. They were provided by the Jackfruit Promotion Council.

Roufas Daniel, chairman of council, Pankajakshan, its general secretary; N Vijayan, additional secretary of the agricultural department and K C Rugmini, its joint director, attended the function.

Kairali Queen is expected to provide faster and cheaper mode of transport for traders and agriculturists. It will carry spices like cardamom, pepper, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, mace, clove, cinnamon, tamarind, garcinia; spices powders, mixes and blends, besides rubber, cashew, clay and coir products. The new service will also help the movement of goods in large quantities at cheaper cost.

The plan was first mooted by the Thiruvananthapuram division of the Southern Railways.

The plan envisaged a train service mainly for the movement of agro-based products in assured transit time for small and medium scale entrepreneurs and farmers in Kerala to different upcountry markets in north India.