3.5 Kms Long Train With 295 Wagons, 6 Engines! Watch Super Vasuki: India’s Longest Freight Train

Marking the beginning of Amrit Kaal, Indian Railways ran five loaded train long haul also known as Super Vasuki, on 15th Aug 2022 under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Celebration. 

How Did This Happen?

In this initiative, South East Central Railway took efforts in running the massive 3.5-km-long train with 295 wagons carrying 27,000 tonnes.

As part of the Independence Day celebrations, the Super Vasuki train carried coal from Korba in Chhattisgarh to Rajnandgao in Nagpur on August 15.

The Super Vasuki train commenced its journey from Korba at 13:50 and covered 267 km in 11.20 hours. 

To mark the beginning of Amrit Kaal, SECR formed and ran SUPER VASUKI, five loaded train long haul on 15th Aug 2022 as a part of #AzadiKaAmritMahotsav Celebration.

This is 3.5 km long Pentahaul with 295 wagons carrying 27000 tonnes
.@secrail pic.twitter.com/qGCfcQpKPK

— South Western Railway (@SWRRLY) August 16, 2022

To make this happen, five goods trains were combined into one rake to create this Super Vasuki train.

Further, this freight train gets its name from Vasuki, known as the Hindu god of serpents. 

It is famous as Shiva’s snake, Vasuki, is portrayed as being around his neck, and also has a gem on his head called a Nagamani.

Longest and Heaviest Freight Train

According to the national transporter, so far this is the longest and heaviest freight train that the Railways has ever operated, and it crosses a station in around four minutes.

Moreover, the Super Vasuki carries enough coal to operate a 3000 MW power plant for a whole day, as per the information provided by the officials.

This freight train can transport three times as much coal in a single trip as the 90-car, 100-ton rail rakes that are now in use.

Need Of Longer Freight Trains

This seems to be the realization of the railways plan where it intends to adopt longer freight trains more frequently, especially to transport coal during the period of high demand to avoid fuel shortages for power plants.

Earlier in 2022, a significant power crisis had been caused by a lack of coal throughout the nation. 

Prior to this, the chief minister of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel wrote to the federal government on Saturday, pleading with it to instruct South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) to guarantee a continuous supply of coal to the state’s steel producers.

Further adding, “Over 15 crore tonnes of coal are extracted annually in Chhattisgarh, which ranks second in the country in terms of its production. But a large quantity of produced coal is supplied to other states. Chhattisgarh is also one of the leading states in the field of steel production. Apart from many large steel-manufacturing units, there are hundreds of small units as well and lakhs of people depend on these facilities for their livelihood,”.