Indian Railways has delivered its first consignment of goods to Bhutan through a multi-modal route, officials said on Saturday.
Seventy-five utility vehicles bought by Bhutan were transported from Chennai to Hasimara Railway Station in West Bengal by a goods train.
The freight train reached the railway station in northern West Bengal's Alipurduar district late on Friday night and the vehicles were taken by road to the adjoining Himalayan kingdom on Saturday morning, they said.
Dilip Kumar Singh, Alipurduar Divisional Railway Manager of the Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) said this was a first-of-its-kind initiative and more goods would be delivered in the future based on demand from Bhutan.
"We are developing infrastructure at Hasimara Railway Station, which is strategically located for doing business with Bhutan. We are building a siding, and have plans to construct a godown in collaboration with the Central Warehousing Corporation. We want to handle all types of commodities and this was just the beginning," he said.
