Railways' freight earnings up 15.40 per cent

New Delhi, Jan 24 (UNI) Riding high on its spectacular performance, the Railways' earnings went up from Rs 26,074.91 crore in April-December 2005 to Rs 30,091.30 crore during the corresponding period last year, registering an increase of 15.40 per cent.

The performance in respect of loading also went up from 481.09 MT to 527.95 MT during the period, a growth of 9.74 per cent.

Passenger earnings improved from Rs 11,127.69 crore in April-December 2005 to Rs 12,656.45 crore during the same period last year, a Railway Ministry official said today.

More importantly, accidents in Railways came down from 181 during the period in 2005 to 158 last year.

The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) produced 886 coaches during April-December last year, exceeding the target by 22 coaches while the Rail Wheel Factory (RWF) produced 99,453 wheels and 41,806 axles, bettering the target of 97,047 wheels and 39,736 axles.

Chitranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) and Rail Coach Factory (RCF) produced 110 electric locos, 137 locos and 958 coaches respectively, equalling the target.

The working expenses came down by Rs 307.80 crore from the budget provision of Rs 28,315.49 crore.

The punctuality of mail and express trains in broad gauge and meter gauge during April-December 2006 was 91.9 and 98.1 compared to 91.6 and 97.4 respectively during the same period a year earlier.

UNI