Railway registers record increase of 176 MT loading in FY22 till Feb

The Railways has registered a record increase of 176 MT in loading during this financial year till February 28 as compared to last year, according to official data.

The national transporter has set a target of achieving 1,400 MT of loading by the end of this financial year, officials said.

The total loading this year till February 28 was 1,278 MT. In fiscal 2017-18, Indian Railways recorded 1,162.6 MT freight loading and in fiscal 2018-19, it recorded 1,225.3 MT freight loading.

It has also recorded the highest freight loading of 129.11 MT for January 2022. This month, it has registered 119.76 million MT of freight loading, up from 112.39 MT for the same month last year

"The highest-ever annual incremental freight loading by IR," Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a tweet on Wednesday.

The East Coast Railway zone became the first zonal railway in this financial year to achieve 200 MT freight loading, registering a growth of 26.67 MT over the corresponding period last year.

The zonal railway has already loaded 200.50 MT of freight during this year as against 173.82 MT last year.

Officials said the major freight being loaded continued to be coal followed by cement clinker, foodgrains, petroleum and containers.

Loading of automobiles, which constitute about one per cent of Railways' freight loading also increased by 34 per cent this year. Adding to its expanding freight basket, the Railways is now loading chemicals hosiery, machine parts, meat, honey, road ballast and other products.

The Kisan Rails are also going strong, officials said with husk and jaggery being added to the list of commodities.