On August 30, the first roll-on roll-off (RoRo) train service in India from Nelamangala in Karnataka to Solapur in Maharashtra was flagged off. This service is expected to remove the existing problems of transportation of goods between the two neighbouring states.

Under the RoRo service, road vehicles such as trucks and others loaded with various goods, will be transported from one place to another through an open wagon of the railway. The trial of the first such service in South Western Railway was flagged off by Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi and Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.
The Karnataka CM stated in a press release that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is emphasizing on multimodal connectivity across the country. He also added that there is tremendous scope for RoRo in the APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) market in the region.

He tweeted that the RoRo service is hassle-free, is environmentally friendly, reduces road accidents, and is beneficial to both truck operators and industries. He stated that he was glad to flag off the first RoRo train service to run between Bengaluru and Solapur.

Under this service, the train will run from Dharmavaram Guntakal, Raichur, and Wadi to Bale near Solapur in Maharashtra. This Roro journey will cover a distance of 682 km in 17 hours.

He also said that lorry can be transported on time with 42 trucks/goods on this new train.
The Minister of State for Railways stated that Multimodal connectivity is the dream of Prime Minister. Thousands of trucks ply between Bengaluru and Solapur. The journey in the new Roro system will take them just 17 hours. This is a trial run which started late due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Officials stated that the new service will remove the existing bottlenecks in the transportation of goods between the two states and will ensure safer, faster, and more reliable transportation facilities.