NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, FEB 9
Indian Railways has achieved highest ever monthly freight loading in January 2021 clocking a figure of 119.79 MT and surpassing its previous record of loading 119.74 MT of freight in March 2019, the ministry said on Tuesday. Indian Railways’ freight loading figures for the last few months have been crossing the last year’s figures for corresponding months and the cumulative freight loading figure this year is expected to surpass the last year’s freight loading figure, a statement by the ministry said.
Indian Railways registers ALL TIME HIGH MONTHLY freight loading figures i.e. 119.79 Million Tonnes (MT) in January 2021. The last best was in March 2019 as 119.74 MT.https://t.co/5wcDMf4Dp7 pic.twitter.com/Y94xN48JAr
— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) February 9, 2021
As per the statistics till February 8, Indian Railways loading was 30.54 million tonnes which include 13.61 MT of coal, 4.15 MT of iron ore, 1.04 MT of foodgrains, 1.03 MT of fertilizers, 0.96 MT of mineral oil and 1.97 MT of cement (excluding clinker).
“It is worth mentioning that a number of concessions and discounts are also being given in Indian Railways to make the railways’ freight movement very attractive.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been used by Indian Railways as an opportunity to improve its all-round efficiencies and performances.
“Also, to attract new business and incentivise other existing clients, the Ministry of Railways has held meetings with the top leadership of iron and steel, cement, power, coal, automobiles and logistics service providers,” the ministry said.
It added that the business development units (BDUs) at zonal and divisional levels and a near doubling of the freight speed are contributing to sustainable growth momentum.
The achievement in freight loading segment comes at a time when the Railways’ passenger segment is still recovering from the Covid-19 blow due to which its services were completely suspended.
As of now, regular services are yet to be reinstated with special trains operating. In fact, the latest data shows both freight and passenger segments are showing signs of recovery.
In February 2021, reserved passenger numbers are up by 19 per cent while freight is up by nine per cent as compared to February 2020.
