Recently [1999] CONCOR has begun running some fast (up to 100km/h) guaranteed delivery container freight trains on certain routes (35 rail corridors have been identified as suitable for such service). The rakes consist of 5-wagon groups of flat cars; the flat cars are low flat cars which allow loading 'Tallboy' containers.
A particular freight service of this kind inaugurated recently [6/00] goes by the name of CONTRACK and is a time-tabled weekly train between Shalimar Terminal and Tondiarpet (Chennai).
Some of the fast (up to 100km/h [8/00]) freight trains, especially on the Mumbai-Delhi...
more... route, are informally named 'Con-Raj' (for Container Rajdhani). Some of these even go straight through Vadodara without a halt, with crew changes only at Valsad and Godhra.
CONCOR has obtained several high-speed flat wagons which are rated for service at 100km/h. (These are also known as 'low belt container flat wagons', and abbreviated 'BLC'.) These have several advanced features, such as automatic twist locks, slackless drawbars, and small-diameter wheels allowing a low bed height. These are currently [12/00] in use on the Tughlakabad-Mumbai container route for the Con-Raj trains mentioned above. More are being ordered, under the auspices of a World Bank loan and the IBRD. Newer versions [9/04] have automatic load sensing devices to allow optimum braking under varying loads. The wagons have a single-pipe air-brake system.
CARTRAC is the name given to CONCOR's automobile transport service. It uses converted passenger coaches to hold automobiles in two decks. A typical CARTRAC rake has about 21 such modified coaches.