Maersk has recorded 43% growth in the exports rail movement of containerised cargo and 23% growth in imports and exports combined in 2021, mainly driven by the launch of 13 new weekly rail services in India.
The new rail services were launched in an effort to provide hinterland connectivity and predictability to a disrupted supply chain ecosystem since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Maersk's statement.
The use of rail for the movement of boxes has therefore provided Maersk's customers with benefits such as up to 30% quicker transit times as compared to road transport, unhindered connectivity between ports and manufacturing hubs, scheduled movement for better predictability, as well as around 14.5 MT lower carbon footprint, said Maersk.
The new rail services were also designed in such a way that different industrial verticals could be connected to the ports, helping customers reduce their inventory hold by almost 10% and connect them to ocean transportation leg in time, saving them penalty costs too.
"Last year we have created 273 new corridors with rail as the backbone and connected our customers on this highly efficient mode of logistics all the way to their hubs of convenience," Jyoti Mitter, rail product manager at Maersk South Asia.
"Having carried more than 50,000 TEU over and above the previous year and having covered 150,000 km, we are confident of building on this solution in the coming years too," pointed out Mitter.
Maersk also offered 'assured transit times' with its rail solutions to customers, which are expected to aid the rising demand for sectors such as e-commerce that is anticipated to move towards rail even more in the near future.
"Having flagged off 13 new services successfully over the year, Maersk is proud to have designed and implemented what customers needed," noted Vikash Agarwal, managing director of Maersk South Asia.
"With the new environment-friendly rail services, in 2021 we reduced carbon footprint that is equivalent to the emissions from a car being driven for around for 60,000 km," added Agarwal.
Maersk has also announced it intends to develop further on the foundation of the rail solutions in 2022.
