Decongesting Delhi: DMRC’s plan to reshape urban freight movement looks promising

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has partnered with courier and logistics company Blue Dart to transport cargo using the metro rail during non-peak hours. Initially, trials will be conducted for a few days on the ‘blue line’ where the last coach of some selected metro trains will be used for cargo transportation. 

The concept of ‘cargo-hitching’, where both passenger and cargo movement happen through one vehicle, is not new in the Indian context. Be it Indian Railways, suburban railway or muffassil bus services — all practice cargo hatching. 

For example, both Indian Railways and suburban railway provide dedicated coaches to carry cargo, whereas muffassil bus services allow both passenger and cargo with designated cargo spaces. But these are mainly long distance or sub-regional services. However, in the case of urban services it’s still largely unexplored. 

Optimising public transport

Cargo transport in passenger metro will result in increased utilisation of existing metro infrastructure. It will also open up an additional revenue stream for the metro which could help off-setting operational cost of the services.

It is important to mention that, in 2016, DMRC tried to explore a similar strategy of cargo movement in its Airport Express line between Delhi Airport and New Delhi Railway station mainly to transport non-perishable and e-commerce items.  

DMRC didn’t provide a separate train for the cargo movement, rather cargo is transported through the already exited luggage in the train. However, it didn’t continue beyond experiments.

Although, learning from similar global cases like Madrid Metro and DMRC’s own previous experience of no takers for cargo movement on Airport Line, they have adopted a partnership model, where they have already partnered with a leading logistics provider in India. 

Thus, this shared responsibility model will help DMRC in leveraging specialised expertise of logistics professionals and develop clear operational boundaries. 

Key concerns

Integrating cargo services with passenger-centric transit operations poses significant operational complexities. In general, transit systems are primarily designed for efficient movement of people rather than goods. And, infrastructure, scheduling, and staffing all are tailored to meet passenger needs. 

Incorporating cargo handling functions requires specialised facilities like dedicated loading/unloading area, secure storage space; new protocols for tracking, securing and transferring goods, specialised skills in cargo handling, and revised operational procedures to manage cargo movement.

Even though the details of DMRC cargo services will be known once the trail run starts, looking at the global best cases and complexities of the operation DMRC should identify the key stations as logistic hubs and upgrade them with necessary infrastructure for smooth logistics operations.

For example, Madrid metro cargo service just stops at four designated stations — Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón Central, Hospital Severo Ochoa and El Bercial. 

Adequate infrastructure upgradation in these strategic collection points enable rapid loading and unloading of goods — the entire process at each station has been optimised to take only three minutes, preventing disruptions to regular metro schedules and maintaining service quality for passengers.

In future as DMRC scales up the services, they should also think of designing the coaches for cargo shipment and operate a dedicated cargo train as well. 

The integration of cargo services into public transportation networks represents an innovative approach to address the urban logistics challenges, which is increasing day-by-day due to rapid increase in e-commerce drive. 

Through appropriate planning and implementation, cargo services could enhance the resilience and sustainability of public transport systems while providing valuable logistics solutions for growing urban areas.