DP World Launches Hyderabad’s First Reefer Rail Freight Service to Nhava Sheva
By consolidating cargo in a single train, rail ensures that the entire volume reaches the port together, aligned with vessel schedules. This level of assured connectivity is harder to achieve via road transport, where cargo often arrives in smaller, staggered lots. The new weekly service can carry up to 43 forty-foot containers in a single train. With four scheduled services per month, DP World can shift more than 172 containers from road to rail, helping to reduce road congestion—equivalent to removing 43 trucks from the road per day.
Each container is supported by DP World’s proprietary powerpacks, which maintain precise temperature control throughout the journey, ensuring the potency and effectiveness of the cargo. A combination of human expertise and digital intervention ensures cargo integrity and security, with dedicated technicians accompanying every train and staying digitally connected with ground teams to monitor conditions in real time.
Adhendru Jain, Vice President – Rail and Inland Terminals, DP World Subcontinent, said: "This new reefer rail freight service provides Hyderabad’s pharmaceutical exporters with a reliable and efficient alternative to road transport. By moving entire trains directly to port, it offers an integrated cold chain advantage, assured vessel connectivity, and secure cargo movement throughout the journey. The shift to rail also reduces carbon emissions, creating a more sustainable model for pharma businesses. At DP World, our endeavor has been to provide market access through integration."
Masahiro Sakikubo, Managing Director, Ocean Network Express (India) Private Limited, added, "Ocean Network Express India is proud to collaborate with DP World on Hyderabad’s first seamless, hassle-free reefer rail service. This partnership allows us to offer exporters a sustainable, direct, and dependable connection with fixed cut-off times and schedules between inland production hubs and our ocean network. Moving cargo by rail reduces the risks of delays on the road and ensures timely vessel connections. This collaboration demonstrates how rail–sea integration can improve efficiency for exporters and strengthen India’s position in global trade."
This launch reinforces DP World’s commitment to enabling trade from India’s pharma hub and building resilient, future-ready supply chains that serve both national priorities and global demand.
The service is expected to cut carbon emissions by up to 70% compared to road transport. For Telangana, where Hyderabad is recognized as the country’s pharmaceutical hub, the service supports state efforts to strengthen multimodal logistics with sustainable solutions now available for businesses. By reducing operational risks and eliminating incidental costs linked to delays, the service also aligns with the government’s agenda of improving ease of doing business and building more sustainable transport networks.
DP World is one of the largest private rail freight operators in the country, with eight inland rail terminals, over 100 owned container rakes, SFTO rakes, and more than 16,000 containers and trailers, unlocking faster, cleaner, and more reliable trade routes. These assets, combined with integrated warehousing and digital monitoring systems, position DP World to support sectors that require refrigerated cargo connectivity between Hyderabad and Nhava Sheva, in both directions.
Published on:
23 October 2025
Published in: Lifting & Specialized Transport, September-October, 2025
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