South Central Railway gross earnings up 21% at Rs 9,340 cr during April-Dec

The gross earnings of SCR targeted for this fiscal is Rs 12,762 cr

The South Central Railway (SCR) has registered gross originating earnings of Rs 9,340 crore during the first three quarters (April to December) of the current financial year, an increase of over 21.5 per cent as compared with the same period last year.

“Actual earnings surpassed the Railway Board’s target of Rs 9,285 crore for the April-December period. Gross earnings of SCR targeted for this fiscal is Rs 12,762 crore, and SCR is all set to meet this target,” it stated in a press release on Tuesday.

The zone achieved a cumulative freight loading of 85.7 million tonne (mt), up 10 per cent, as compared with 77.9 mt achieved in the same period of last year.

SCR’s freight earnings constitute around 70 per cent of the gross earnings of the zone. Revenues from freight activities till the end of December, 2014, touched Rs 6,614 crore, as against Rs 5,359 crore in April-December 2013, an increase of 23.5 per cent.

According to SCR, coal contributes 53 per cent to its total freight loading. The loading of coal surged to 45.6 mt, a growth of around 10.4 per cent, as compared with from 41.3 mt during the same period of last year.

The cumulative loading of cement by the end of December, 2014, stood at 21.1 mt, up 5 per cent.

SCR loaded 4.6 mt of foodgrains and 3.7 mt of fertilisers during the period.

Stating that there was a huge surge in rail freight loading at Krishnapatnam port, at 15.5 mt during April-December, 2014, from 10.1 mt in the same period of last year, SCR said freight loading at Kakinada port also looked up with 5.6 mt of cumulative loading till the end of December, 2014, an increase of 22 per cent, as compared with 4.6 mt during 2013.

Coal, Iron ore, Cement and fertilisers are the major commodities being loaded at Krishnapatnam and Kakinada ports.

During April-December 2014, SCR has carried 276 million originating passengers (or one million on an average per day.

The earnings from the passenger sector stood at Rs 2,323 crore, generating an incremental passenger revenue of Rs  350 crore during April-December, 2014.  This reflects an increase of 18 per cent, as against the passenger earnings of Rs 1,973 crore achieved in the same period of the last financial year, SCR said.