The railway ministry and Amazon India's e-commerce marketplace have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance their current partnership aimed at ensuring swift and dependable transportation of Amazon India packages using the extensive regional network of Indian Railways. According to a press release from Amazon India, the MoU outlines plans for the collaborative development of a hub-and-spoke model for a specific origin-destination pair. Insights gained from this initiative will guide the expansion of similar operations across the railway network.

"The plan covers first and last-mile requirements, transit times, cost options and policy enablers to boost parcel volumes on railways. Amazon India will also provide recommendations on requirements to ensure speedy and reliable distribution network for parcel logistics through railways", the release said. The release quoted Ravinder Goyal, Member (Operations and Business Development), Railway Board, as saying, "I commend Amazon for the MoU signed with Indian Railways. This collaboration and partnership will further help railways to understand the need of e-commerce businesses and plan transport services accordingly".

"The MoU is an important step towards enhancing the movement of e-commerce cargo through Indian Railways. I encourage the e-commerce sector to leverage the efficiency and sustainability of rail transport to streamline their logistics needs. Indian Railways has launched many parcel services as well as the Virtual Aggregation Platform (VAP) to ease and encourage adoption of rail for parcel delivery and I, therefore, appeal to the e-commerce business to use this facility for mutual gain", Goyal said.

Abhinav Singh, vice-president, operations, Amazon India, said the company's association with the Indian Railways aligns with the government's vision to leverage this iconic institution for India's economic growth. "It also reflects our focus on providing our customers across India access to unparalleled selection with fast and reliable deliveries. Since 2019, we have collaborated to create an innovative logistics model that combines Amazon's e-commerce expertise with Indian Railways' vast and reliable network", Singh said.

The release highlighted Amazon India's collaboration with the railways, noting that the company began its engagement with Indian Railways in 2019. Amazon India was the first e-commerce firm in India to partner with the national transporter to develop an express rail transportation solution, which involved transporting parcel wagons on the Rajdhani Express along the Mumbai-Delhi route.

"Over the last five years, Amazon has diligently scaled its operations from one train in 2019 to 120+ trains in 2024, operating 130 intercity routes across 91 unique destination cities through railways. This represents a 15-time increase in movement of Amazon's parcels through railway lanes since it began working with the Indian Railways in 2019", the release said.

The release stated that in 2023, Amazon India deepened its partnership with the railways by becoming the first e-Commerce logistics company to utilize dedicated freight corridors. These corridors are designed to ease congestion on the existing rail network, boost the average speed of freight trains, facilitate heavy-haul train operations, connect ports and industrial areas for quicker freight movement, and lower overall logistics costs.