Indian Railways‘ Southern Railway (SR) zone has witnessed growth in passenger and freight traffic in the current financial year. The zonal railway has also outperformed the previous year in respect of traffic and revenue generation.
The zone has achieved originating freight traffic of 33.9 million tonnes (MT) during the fiscal till February 2023. With this, the SR has registered a growth of around 24 percent over the same period last year. It also generated revenue of Rs 302.25 Crores around 15 percent more than the Railway Board target.
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In FY 2021-22, the originating freight traffic stood at 27.4 million tonnes (MT). The figure also exceeds the target set up by the Railway Board by 5 percent. The board has set the target of 32.25 MT.
During April-February 2023, the zonal railway has attained growth in freight loading from coal (16.058 MT), food grains (2.769 MT), fertilizers (3.446 MT), and POL products (4.696 MT). In the last 11 months, the loading of commodities such as coal has experienced a growth of 1.138 MT over the Railway Board’s target. It also witnessed an increase in food grains, fertilizers, and POL by 0.959 MT, 0.286 MT, and 1.006 MT respectively.
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In the context of passenger traffic, the Southern Railway has experienced significant growth during the current fiscal. The zone has operated various passenger and special trains to clear the extra rush. It registered an originating passenger count of 54.3 million across all segments and also increased its revenue to Rs 530 crores in February 2023.
While the overall originating traffic stood at 582.6 million passengers with a revenue of Rs 5,779 crores during April-February 2023. In the last fiscal, the railway handled 292.65 million passengers.