Railway freight shows signs of revival; cement traffic up 18% in June

In April and May, the Railways saw a subdued freight loading at about 70% of what it was in 2019

In a sign that economic and construction activities are coming back on track, cement traffic handled by railways saw an 18 per cent increase so far in the month of June compared to the same time in 2019, said a senior railways executive on Monday. A similar rise was seen in fertilizer traffic too.

In the months of April and May, the Railways saw a subdued freight loading at about 70 per cent of what it was in 2019. In June, this has recovered to over 90 per cent of what it was in June 2019. From June 1 to June 21 this year, the national transporter has handled 64.55 million tonne (MT) of freight, down 8 per cent from what it handled during the same period last year. On account of the pandemic, freight loading saw a dip of 57.95 MT or 28 per cent during April-May 2020.  

“Cement traffic saw an increase of 18 per cent in June so far, compared to the same time last year. A similar increase was seen in fertilizer too. Other sectors that are showing signs of improvement, while coal is expected to pick up after the monsoon,” said P S Mishra, member (traffic), Railway Board, addressing a press conference on Monday.

For the April to June 21, 2o20 freight traffic was seen at 212.62 MT, down 23 per cent from the same period in 2019-20. In June 2020, all sectors have shown significant improvement, except iron-ore, Mishra said. During the time of lockdown, the focus by the Railways was mainly on essential items like food grains, coal to power sector, petroleum and timetabled parcel services. The result of this effort was seen in food grains handled during the period, that saw an 83 per cent increase compared to last year. From April 1 to June 21, food grains loading was seen at 14.55 MT, up from 7.94 MT during the same period in 2019.

“For coal, the traffic is low because thermal power plants are having a sufficient coal stock of 28 days now. We expect coal loading at last year’s level in the third quarter and pick up further in the fourth quarter due to higher industrial activity,” Mishra added. Coal traffic, which is a major component of the Railway freight, was seen down 30 per cent for April to June 21 period of the year versus last year.  

“We are in continuous dialogue with key industries like coal , fertilizer, steel, cement , containers and other goods to improve services and have better transit time,” he said. A major improvement on the railways side was the increase in average speed of freight trains by 78 per cent from a mere 23 kilo meter per hour (kmph) prior to lockdown to 41 kmph now. 

• 64.55 MT: Freight traffic so far in June, which is 8 per cent lower than last year
• 57.95 MT: dip in traffic on account of pandemic in April-May 2020.   
• 78 per cent: Increase in speed of freight trains  from a 23 kmph prior to lockdown to 41 kmph now