Railways achieve cash surplus of over Rs 20,000 crore

New Delhi, June 8 (UNI) Propelled by significant strides in both the freight and passenger segments, the Railways ended fiscal 2006-07 on a robust note, registering gross earnings of Rs 62,367.55 crore compared to Rs 54,404.56 crore during the same period last year -- an increase of 16 per cent -- besides achieving a cash surplus in excess of Rs 20,000 crore.

A ministry official said the phenomenal feat of the Railways had become possible through the turnaround strategy based on ''a perfect blend of commercial wisdom and empathy for the people.'' The official said the Railways created a history by generating a cash surplus before a Dividend of Rs 20,153.49 crore for the year 2006-07 as against Rs 14,709.79 crore during the previous year.

Quoting the latest financial statistics of the ministry, he said the fund balance as on March 31 this year was Rs 16,528.65 crore.

More importantly, the operating ratio of the Railways came down to 78.68 per cent during 2006-07 from 83.72 per cent during the year 2005-06.

The official said the Railways registered a record-breaking performance in both freight and passenger earnings during the year 2006-07. The goods earnings went up from Rs. 36286.97 crore during 2005-06 to Rs 41,716.50 crore during 2006-07.

The passenger earnings were pegged at Rs 17,224.56 crore compared to Rs 15,126 crore during 2005-06.

The Net Payable Dividend was Rs 4,247.52 crore during 2006-07 compared to Rs 3,667.92 crore a year earlier, the official said, adding that the amount had been fully met.

The revenue earnings from other coaching amounted to Rs 1,737.36 crore during April'06- March'07 compared to Rs 1,223.04 crore during the same period last year, an increase of 42.05 per cent.

The total sundry earnings also rose from Rs 720.75 crore to Rs. 1,441.23 crore during the period, an increase of 99.96 per cent.

Around 6,352.07 million passengers were booked during 2006-07 as compared to 5,932.10 million during the same period last year, showing an increase of 7.08 per cent.

In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the number of passengers booked during April'06-March'07 were 3,517.61 million and 2,834.46 million compared to 3,331.89 million and 2,600.21 million during the same period last year, an increase of 5.57 per cent and 9.01 per cent respectively.

UNI