The Salem division of Southern Railway has recorded loading of Bitumen with the longest lead of 2400 km.
The Division recorded its freight movement with the longest lead on 3rd June 2026, with a container train comprising 45 containers carrying Bitumen.
The train originated from IGCS (Irugur Container Depot,Salem Division, Southern Railway) and was dispatched to FCON, Container Siding Fatuha (Danapur Division, East Central Railway).
The Inland Container Depot of the Container Corporation of India, CONCOR, Irugur, in Association with M/s. Briskworld Ventures Private Limited, has loaded Bitumen from Irugur (IGU) to Fatua (FCON), with a total of 90 TEUs on 3rd June 2026.(TEU stands for Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit – the standard, universal unit of measurement to quantify cargo capacity of shipping Containers).
This consignment represents the first outward container movement originating from the Salem Railway Division during the current financial year 2026–27, marking a significant milestone in regional logistics operations and creating a record, the Southern Railway said today.
The rake carried a chargeable load of 2,340 tonnes of Bitumen and covered a lead distance of 2,439 km, generating a freight revenue of Rs 53.lakhs.
Bitumen, a dense hydrocarbon residue produced in petroleum refineries through atmospheric and vacuum distillation of crude oil (with optional air‑blowing for grade modification), is collected annually at the Irumpanam refinery in Kochi and sold to various firms.
This year, procurement and aggregation have been undertaken by a private firm, with first‑mile and last‑mile containerized road transport connectivity managed by M/s. CONCOR. The consignment was aggregated at the IGCS CONCOR terminal at Irugur (IGU) and dispatched to the FCON terminal under East Central Railway (ECR), covering a lead distance of 2,439 km. The material will be utilized for laying bitumen roads in Bihar and adjoining states, thereby supporting regional infrastructure development. This initiative is an outcome of continuous and close cooperation between officials of Southern Railway and CONCOR in promoting container movement from the region.