Railways hope freight revenue will pick up

CHENNAI: The decline in freight loading in the Chennai division that recorded a fall of 12.73 per cent in 2016 as compared to the first four months of the financial year 2015 was chiefly contributed from the decline in earnings from coal loading. Earnings from coal loading plummeted to Rs 25.59 crore in July 2016, whereas in the corresponding period in 2015, the coal earnings were recorded at Rs 56.52 crore, according to statistics from the Railways.

While the originating loading and the subsequent earnings from coal and dolomite saw a decline from April to July in FY 2016 as against a corresponding period last year, loading of auto, limestone, RMC and orthoxylene brought in increased earnings for a similar period in 2016. From April to July in 2015, the comparative decline of freight loading was 5.34 MT to 4.66 MT in the same period in 2016. The freight earnings for the period in 2015 were 459.62 crore and in 2016, were Rs 385.91.

A senior official said that the earnings that are to a great extent dependent on coal movement saw a decline due to the lack of it and, however, are hopeful that the abysmal decline in freight numbers across the nation will see improvement towards the end of the financial year. “This year the wind capacity was much higher and better managed compared so the off-take of coal and thermal plants has come down,” said another official, the divisional railway manager of Chennai, Anupam Sharma.

“The window for wind energy finishes towards August-end so we are expecting our freight earning to pick up,” he added. “We are also taking other measures. We are interacting with various industries and agencies for newer during our busy periods of freight loading, we would see more loading from theses industries,” he continued.