Bike Transport by Train – How to Parcel, Charges, Process
Indian Railways is not only the biggest Rail Network but also is one of the biggest modes of transportation. Bike transport by Train or any Two Wheeler is one of the most common sight we find all over the Indian Railways at any given point of time.
You can transport goods from one place to other using Indian Railways in two forms, either as a luggage or as a parcel. A luggage is something you can take it along with you on the same train you travel. A parcel is subjected to transportation to your choice of the destination through any train or railway wagon as decided by the Rail Authorities.
The whole process of bike transport by train has been completely changed. Until a few months, you can carry the bike along with you on the same train you travel. However, bike transport by train is now purely decided by the Railway authorities. Not it may not be possible to take the bike along with you in the same train you are traveling, as the procedures have changed. Now the Indian Railways will decide in which train your bike should travel depending on the slot availability and destination.
Still, bike transportation is available in two ways, luggage and parcel booking. As of now, there are actually two ways to transport bike in train across India viz.
- Luggage
- Parcel
Before transporting the bike we need to make sure all the documents are all clear and ready. Especially the important documents like Registration Certificate, Latest Insurance documents and all.
Another important thing is we need to empty the petrol tank for transporting it. It’s always good to book from main station since they will get enough time to load the parcels.
They will accept the booking only when there is a direct train connectivity available between source & destination stations. Once it reached at the destination, the first 6 hours are free to keep it in the parcel counter. After that, every one hour is chargeable. So better to collect it within the first 6 hours itself.
Now I can explain what is the procedure for transport bike by train as luggage/parcel.
How to transport bike by train as a parcel
The process is pretty simple. First of all you need to identify a main station near to you from where you can sent the bike as parcel.
- Visit the parcel counter of that railway station and inquire about the bike parcel charges along with the expected delivery/arrival time. It will be good know these things few days in advance.
- As mentioned you need to submit the photo copy of your bike registration certificate (RC book) and the any one of your identity proof. It’s mandatory that you need to carry the originals of both, since there will be a verification for the same.
- Once they are done with the strict inspection of petrol tank, your bike is ready for packing. Either you can pack it yourself or take the help of some packing guys. It can cost you some 300 RS. I would suggest you to go for that since they can do it better than us.
- Now your bike is ready for the journey, but need to fill parcel form where you can mention the details of the recipient & address, cost of the parcel you are sending, bike’s engine and chassis number.
How to transport bike by train as a luggage
The procedure is almost similar like sending bike as parcel. You need to submit the registration certificate and id proof photo copies and get it packed.
- Keep the luggage receipt & the endorsement of the train ticket. Make sure you are keep it safe because these two are required to receive the bike parcel
- Wait for your train. Make sure your bike is getting loaded to the same train. so that the bike will be transported along with you on the same train.
- After reaching your journey, go to luggage office. Show the original ticket and the luggage endorsement. Navigate to the platform or the train compartment to receive the bike parcel.
- As per the railway rules you need to empty the petrol and take at the same time you are not supposed to carry petrol in bottle as well.I hope your friends can help you out in getting this part sorted out.
Bike Parcel Fees & bike Transport Charges
Rail transport Fess are always cheap when you compared to other mode of transportation. Please find the for bike parcel charges/cost
- Packing / Porter Charges – Rs. 150 to 300 Rs. These charges will be needed for both packing and during delivery.
- Total cost to transport bike or to parcel bike through Indian railway trains is calculated based on the distance & the weight of the parcel
- If you need the exact cost then you can check out the Indian railways website.
- Insurance charge is based on the value of the bike. Note this cost will be included along with the bike Parcel cost. State the value of the bike as higher because higher the value of bike will get higher insurance fee. Declaration up to Rs.10, 000 don’t have any extra charges. After that the insurance charges will be extra 1% of the declared value
Indian Railways Rules for Bike Transportation
There are certain rules which you should consider before transport bike by train.
- Make sure to empty the petrol tank of your motorcycle because during inception if they found a bike with fuel in the petrol tank, then they will put fine for Rs.1000 (i.e.) for transporting the bike with petrol.
- In certain cases, the railway police can take action against this which can lead 6 months to 2 years imprisonment.
- Suppose if the bike is lost because of train accident etc, then Indian railways will repay as per the declared value of goods
- Make sure you are mentioning the bike engine & chassis number during the parcel form registration
- If you unable to unload & collect the bike from the train at your destination station, then you can again book bike parcel to the nearest major railway station.
Many a times, passengers feel that their bike may be dumped with other materials and gets damaged or dent to their loved sentiment vehicles. Rather there are many ways to protect your vehicle by way of providing the smarter way of sending bike parcel with good wrapping for all safety means of transportation.
There are few bike parcel service firms in all Metros too, which will send mini truck for picking your bike or scooter to your doorstep and pack it, transport with sufficient space and deliver your bike in whichever condition you handed over it to their company. The packers and movers team of the company will professionally pack your bike with bubble wrap sheets, poly cushion sheets, corrugation sheets and shrink film to avoid breakage, dent, scratch for your bike safety in transit.
These locally available firms provide door step pickup and door step delivery for two wheelers like Royal Enfield, Harley Davidson, Yamaha FZ, Honda Scooters, TVS bikes, Scooty, Vespa Scooters, Bajaj Pulsar, Mopeds and Sports utility bikes.
Customers will receive door delivery like courier of their two wheeler parcel by next day or second working day. These firms provide one stop solution for bike parcel service too.
Customers have only simple procedure to transfer bike this way as they need to furnish their address with contact details through mail or phone to pickup. Also they need to hand over the Registration copy, Insurance copy and any one Government ID proof with a declaration letter for their two wheeler transport.
Source – www.railnews.in, Photos – Abhidev Upadhya.
