India’s first all-aluminium freight rail wagons were flagged off on Sunday in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar. The gleaming rakes are 180 tonnes lighter than existing steel rakes, can carry 5-10 per cent more payload, and consume less energy with relatively negligible wear and tear to rolling stock and rails. The bottom discharge aluminium freight wagon, specifically designed to carry coal, is tipped to reduce the carbon footprint measurably. It was flogged off by Union Minister for Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw.

The new generation wagons, fabricated by M/S BESCO based on RDSO-approved design are made from high-strength aluminium alloy plates and extrusions, indigenously made at Hindalco’s state-of-the-art rolling facility in Hirakud, Odisha with extrusions from the company’s Renukoot plant in UP, leveraging its global technology.