Containerised rail (ICD to ICD)
Container slots on scheduled inland services booked through rail operators, with depot handling at both terminals.
TRAIN FREIGHT · CONTAINERISED & BULK RAKES
Rail Freight
Cost-efficient rail movement for bulk and containerized cargo.
OVERVIEW
Why Global Businesses choose PetroBulk for Rail Freight
Over long distances, rail freight can significantly improve transportation economics. PetroBulk arranges containerised rail movements between Inland Container Depots (ICDs) through CONCOR and other rail operators, along with bulk rake coordination for commodities such as coal, urea, agricultural dry bulk and iron ore, where full-rake movements can provide an efficient and economical solution for transporting large volumes.
Rail rarely serves both the origin and destination doors directly, so the value lies in bridging the complete logistics chain. PetroBulk coordinates the road legs at each end, terminal handling, intermodal interchange and related logistics, managing the movement through a single point of coordination — including EXIM rail services from inland depots to ports for export shipments.
Global reach Reliable supply Trusted partnerships Value driven Integrity
RAIL CAPABILITIES
What we move by rail.
Bulk rake coordination
Full rakes for coal, urea and ore — indent placement, loading supervision and rake movement tracked to destination.
Terminal handling & bridging
Lifting, stacking and interchange at the terminal, with road vehicles planned against the rake or train arrival.
Rail + road door solutions
Line-haul on rail with road legs at each end, quoted and managed as one door-to-door movement.
EXIM rail to ports
Export rakes and container trains from inland depots to the port, timed against the vessel cut-off.
HOW A RAIL MOVE WORKS
Plan to plant delivery.
- 1Plan & rake or slot booking
Volume, commodity and terminals decide whether slots or a full rake apply; the indent is placed accordingly.
- 2Terminal load
Road bridging feeds the terminal, loading is supervised and rail documentation is raised.
- 3Line-haul & milestones
The rake or container train is tracked against terminal and interchange milestones through the line-haul.
- 4Destination & delivery
Unloading at the destination terminal, then road delivery to the plant or consignee with documents closed out.
COVERAGE
Across India, branch-deep.
Indian rail network — ICD-to-ICD container services and bulk rakes, bridged by road at both ends.
View full network- Delhi NCR
- Nhava Sheva / JNPT
- Mundra
- Kandla / Deendayal
- Chennai
- Visakhapatnam
- Paradip
- Kolkata / Haldia
- Cochin
- Tuticorin
- Pipavav
QUESTIONS
Frequently asked about rail freight.
Generally on long-haul, high-volume, non-urgent cargo — the longer the distance and the larger the tonnage, the more rail's cost per tonne-kilometre works in your favour. Short hauls, small volumes and tight deadlines usually still belong on road. We compare both on your actual lane before recommending.
Yes. For commodities such as coal, urea and ore we coordinate rake indents, loading at the siding or port stockyard, and movement to the destination terminal, with road tippers arranged for the final leg to the plant.
Rail moves terminal to terminal, so door-to-door means rail plus road. We plan and price both legs together, so you deal with one booking and one file even though the cargo changes mode twice.
Container movements run between major inland container depots and port terminals across the network, and bulk rakes are handled at sidings and port stockyards. Terminal availability depends on the commodity and operator, and we confirm the pair of terminals at booking.
Rail transit is generally steadier than road over long distances but depends on path availability, terminal congestion and interchange at the time of booking. We give the operator's scheduled transit for your specific lane rather than a generic number, and flag deviations as they happen.
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RELATED SERVICES
Often paired with Rail Freight.
Dry Bulk Commodities
Brokerage and freight forwarding for coal, urea, iron ore, clinker, minerals and bulk grains — vessel fixing, port handling, customs and delivery to plant.
ExploreRoad Freight
Pan-India road forwarding through vetted transport partners — full and part truckloads, container haulage, over-dimensional cargo and first or last-mile for multimodal legs.
ExploreMultimodal Transport
Route engineering across sea, air, rail and road with coordinated interchanges, single-document handling and one accountable desk from origin to destination.
ExploreMoving petroleum or dry bulk? See our flagship desks →
Shift long-haul volume onto rail.
Share the commodity, tonnage and end points — we will compare rail-plus-road against straight road for the lane.