Despite the 20% hike in freight charges and a partial increase in passenger fares, railway earnings have fallen short by Rs 815.38 crore against the target of Rs 10,268.22 crore in April this year.
Railways have earned Rs 9,452.84 crore in April, registering a decrease of 7.94%.
Railways had increased freight charges by 20% before the Railway Budget. Passenger fares increased by 15 paisa per km for AC 2 and 30 paisa per km for AC 1 from April. Platform tickets will also cost Rs 5 now.
While the Railways failed to meet the earnings target, its working expenses has exceeded the budget provision during April.
According to the monthly evaluation report, railways' working expenses was Rs 9,631.39 crore as against the budget provision of Rs 9,343.68 crore which is Rs 287.71 crore higher than the provision.
Railways earned Rs 6,726.40 crore from freight as against the target of Rs 7,077.02 crore for April this year, falling short of Rs 350.62 crore, a decrease of 4.95%.
Railways also registered a negative growth of 15.57% in the passenger earnings section as the national transporter could earn only Rs 2,355.74 crore against the target of Rs 2,790.19 crore in the first month of the current fiscal.
While the loading target for the month was 80.79 million tons (MT), the public behemoth could carry only 80.05 MT in April.
