Railways will now pick up parcels from your home; a doorstep service will be launched in 8 cities, including Delhi and Mumbai..

Indian Railways is preparing to offer a service similar to private courier companies, where parcels will be picked up from your home and delivered directly to your specified address. Customers will be able to make bookings and process online payments through the Railways' mobile app. This service will be significantly more affordable than those offered by private courier companies, providing a major benefit to small-scale traders and online shoppers. You will no longer need to go through the hassle of traveling to a railway station to book or transport your goods; the Railways will arrange for your parcel to be picked up from your home and delivered in a timely manner.

Parcel Service in Eight Cities, Including Delhi and Mumbai
Following the success of a pilot project, this service is now being launched in eight cities across the country, including Delhi and Mumbai. Other cities on the list are Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Pune. For this purpose, the Railways has developed the 'Rail Parcel – Door-to-Door' app, designed along the lines of the online platforms used by private courier companies. It connects customers directly with the service providers handling the goods. Customers can complete bookings and make online payments directly through the app, eliminating the need to carry parcels to the railway station or deal with the cumbersome, traditional paperwork.

How Rail Parcels Will Be Handled
Under this service, a logistics partner will first pick up the parcel from the customer's home and transport it to the designated railway station. From there, the Railways will carry the goods by train to the destination station. Upon arrival, another courier partner will take over and deliver the parcel to the final specified address. For example, if you book a shipment from Delhi to Kanpur, a service provider will pick up the item from your home and transport it to the New Delhi railway station. From there, it will travel by train to Kanpur, where a local courier partner will complete the final delivery to your chosen address. These logistics partners will also assist customers with packaging and other necessary handling requirements.

Booking and Cancellation Rules
Parcels must be booked in advance; the booking window opens 15 days prior to the scheduled departure of the train. Customers will be able to make bookings up to 24 hours before the train's departure. Meanwhile, the logistics company must hand over the parcels to the railway staff one hour before the train departs.

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