Coimbatore/New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India Limited has become the first passenger vehicle manufacturer to dispatch vehicles by rail to the Pollachi Railway Terminal in Tamil Nadu, expanding its rail-based logistics network in southern India and potentially adding capacity for more than 11,000 vehicle deliveries annually.
The first automobile rake reached Pollachi earlier this week carrying 120 vehicles, including the Wagon R, Ertiga, Dzire and Celerio. The train was flagged off from Maruti Suzuki’s in-plant railway siding at Manesar on August 18, 2026.
The company said it worked with Indian Railways to operationalise the Pollachi Railway Terminal for automobile dispatches. The new destination supplements Maruti Suzuki’s existing rail logistics operations in Coimbatore and is expected to improve vehicle distribution across southern India.
The timing also coincides with the festival season, including Onam in Kerala, when automobile demand traditionally receives closer attention from manufacturers and dealerships. The additional logistics capacity could help shorten the journey from factory yard to showroom — a less glamorous part of the automobile business, perhaps, but an increasingly important one.
According to Maruti Suzuki, the Pollachi terminal is expected to handle nearly 70 automobile rakes annually, supporting the movement of more than 11,000 additional vehicles every year by rail to the region.
Rail Share Rises to 26.5%
Maruti Suzuki began using railways for vehicle dispatches in FY 2014-15 as part of efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, fuel consumption and congestion caused by long-distance road transportation.
Rail accounted for about 5% of the company’s outbound vehicle dispatches in FY 2014-15. That share increased to 26.5% in FY 2025-26, highlighting the growing role of railways in the company’s distribution network.
Maruti Suzuki said it has cumulatively dispatched more than 32 lakh vehicles by rail to date.
The carmaker is now targeting a further increase in rail-based transportation, with an aim to move 35% of its outbound vehicle dispatches through railways by FY 2030-31.
For India’s automobile industry, where millions of vehicles must be moved from factories to dealerships across vast distances, expanding railway logistics offers manufacturers an alternative to relying predominantly on road transport. Maruti Suzuki’s addition of Pollachi to its network illustrates how railway terminals away from major manufacturing centres are becoming an increasingly important link between automotive production, regional demand and lower-emission logistics.
