Waltair division of East Coast Railway earns highest revenue of Rs 7,034.5 crore

Visakhapatnam: Waltair division of East Coast Railway celebrated 61st Railway Week with great enthusiasm. Railway Week is celebrated every year to commemorate the chugging off of the first train on 16th April, 1853, from Bori Bunder (Mumbai) to Thane.

Addressing the gathering chief guest, divisional railway manager, Waltair,  Chandralekha Mukherjee, complimented the services by the officers and staff of the division in achieving exceptional results/ performance. Appraising the performance and achievements of the Waltair division, DRM   Chandralekha Mukherjee informed that on the freight loading front the Waltair division achieved an originating loading of 55.66 MT. On account of this loading, the earnings were '6,456.84 crore which is 4.82% more than the earnings in the last financial year. The increase in loading in 2015-16 has been mainly due to increase in loading of coal, fertilisers, steel, POL and alumina.

On the passenger front, the originating passenger traffic in 2015-16 has been 35.05 million that earned the division '468.90 crores, which is 8.25% higher than the earnings of '433.51 crore achieved in 2014-15. Overall, this led to achievement of the highest ever earnings of '7,034.58  crore. “I am very happy and proud to share with you that at the zonal-level function on 27th May, the Waltair division received 11 efficiency shields,  including the overall efficiency shield. The flag of Waltair division truly flew high due to the dedication, commitment and hard work of the staff and officers. Waltair Division bagged the best major clean station (Rayagada), best small clean station (Kottavalasa). Let us focus on hard work, cleanliness, innovation and ever better service in this year in the spirit of collective and cohesive effort which is the hallmark of the Waltair division,” the DRM said.

In a bid to provide environment-friendly bio-toilets, the Waltair division has introduced four green trains and a total of 259 coaches have been provided with bio-toilets. The toilets have been jointly developed by Indian Railways and the DRDO. The bio-toilet system consists of a bio-digester tank which contains anaerobic bacteria that converts solid human waste into liquid and some gases. The liquid waste is treated with chlorine and discharged and hence no need to clean the track.