Railways' freight revenue up by 16.23 per cent

New Delhi, Jul 17: Maintaining its buoyancy in earnings, the Railways generated Rs. 9959.49 crore of revenue from freight traffic during the first quarter of the current fiscal, ended June, as compared to Rs 8569.07 crore during the corresponding period last year, registering an increase of 16.23 per cent.

In terms of volume, Railways carried 175.84 million tonnes of freight traffic during April-June this year as compared to 159.98 million tonnes during the corresponding period last year, an increase of 9.91 per cent.

The Net Tonne Kilo Metres (NTKM) went up from 105625 million during April-June 2005 to 116880 million during April-June this year, up 10.66 per cent.

The earnings from freight traffic during June this year were Rs.

3267.37 crore, compared to Rs. 2796.44 crore during the corresponding period last year, showing an increase of 16.84 per cent.

Railways carried 58.17 million tonnes (MTs) of freight traffic during the month as compared to 52.40 million tonnes of freight traffic during the corresponding period last year, registering an increase of 11.01 per cent.

The Net Tonne Kilo Metres (NTKM) went up from 34376 million during June last year to 37746 million during the same month this year, an increase of 9.80 per cent.

Of the total earnings during June this year, Rs. 1282.21 crore came from transportation of coal, followed by Rs. 296.10 crore from cement, Rs. 210.73 crore from foodgrains, Rs. 245.07 crore from petroleum oil and lubricant (POL) and Rs. 184.65 crore from iron ore for exports.

Railways also earned Rs. 170.90 crore from fertilisers, Rs.

163.30 crore from iron and steel for steel plants, Rs. 154.21 crore from raw material for steel plants, and Rs. 560.20 crore from other goods.

UNI