Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu digitally inaugurated the first steel coil-carrying Special Freight Train Operations (SFTO) rake of TM International Logistics Ltd (TMILL) from Rail Bhawan in New Delhi.

TMILL, a joint venture of Tata Steel, NYK Holding (Europe) B.V. and IQ Martrade Holding GmbH of Germany, commenced operations with three BFNSM1 rakes.

The first rake carrying steel coils departed from Tata Steel's Jamshedpur plant for Chennai. These rakes will also be deployed for carrying finished steel products from Tata Steel's Kalinganagar plant in Odisha. TMILL has leased the rakes from GATX India Private Limited, a leading global railcar lessor.

SFTO is a policy initiative of Indian Railways to encourage private investment in rolling stock. Under this policy, TMILL has been granted a 20-year license as of September 2016 by Indian Railways to invest in/lease rakes for movement of finished steel products. The BFNSM1 Rakes (22.9 Ton axle load) can carry 2750 Tonnes of Steel Coils per rake and offer a competitive alternative to freight movement by road.

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