WATCH: This is Super Vasuki, India's longest freight train

The Railways ran a special train on August 15 named Super Vasuki -- a 3.5-km-long freight train with 295 wagons loaded with over 27,000 tonnes of coal between Korba in Chhattisgarh and Rajnandgao in Nagpur. The special test run -- formed by amalgamating five rakes of goods trains as one unit -- was part of the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' celebrations. 

The South East Central Railway flagged off the freight train from Korba at 1:50 pm. The train completed its journey in 11 hours and 20 minutes to cover the 267 km distance. 

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

This is the heaviest and longest freight train ever run by the Railways. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared a video of the train crossing the Kothari Road station in Chhattisgarh. The train took about four minutes to cross a station.

According to officials, the load transported by the Super Vasuki was enough to operate a 3000 MW power plant for a full day. To note, the train's capacity was three times that of existing railway rakes (90 cars with 100 tonnes in each), which carry about 9,000 tonnes of coal in one journey.

Officials said that the Railways intends to use longer freight trains more frequently, especially to transport coal in peak demand season to prevent fuel shortages of power stations. Earlier this year, the country faced a severe power crisis due to coal shortages.

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