Southern Railway registers increase in freight and parcel revenue

CHENNAI : Southern Railway’s cumulative earnings from parcel and freight traffic in April and May 2021 have increased by 331.58 % and 52.89 % respectively, over the corresponding period, last year.

The earnings from freight traffic during April and May 2021 was at Rs 427.35 crore as compared to Rs 279.52 crore while earnings from parcel traffic stood at Rs 14.92 crore as compared to Rs 3.46 crore in the corresponding period last year.

On the freight front, 5.324 million tonne (MT) was loaded during April –May 2021 which was 1.357 MT (34.2%) higher than the corresponding period over last fiscal, said a statement by Southern Railway.

Around 1,756 rakes were handled during April-May 2021 which was 402 rakes more compared to April-May 2020. The freight loaded has also surpassed the target set by Railway Board by 0.244 MT. The freight basket of Southern Railway consists of coal, raw material for steel plants, iron & steel, cement, foodgrains, fertilisers, petroleum products, automobiles, containers and others, it said.

Commodities like coal, iron & steel, cement, fertilisers and POL products recorded increase in loading when compared to the previous year. Around 3.193 MT of coal in 837 rakes was loaded during April-May 2021. This was 47.68% higher compared to the loading of coal in April-May 2020 which stood at 2.162 MT (568 rakes).

In the automobiles segment, Southern Railway has transported 18,742 tonne during April-May 2021 and it was 135% more than the quantity transported during corresponding period last year. A total of 42 rakes comprising a total of 801 wagons were transported during April-May 2021.

As for the parcel performance during April-May 2021, Southern Railway loaded 29376.5 tonne, an increase of 172.5% over the same period last year which stood at 10,780.4 tonne, it added.

Source : Financial Express