Railways April freight earnings up by over 17% from last year

The freight earnings stood at Rs Rs 8,071.18 crore during the same period in 2014

Railways earned Rs 9,461.47 crore from freight transportation in April of this year as compared to Rs 8,071.18 crore during the corresponding period in 2014, an increase of 17.23 per cent.

The freight earnings for the previous month were made up of Rs 4,623.77 crore through transportation of 46.07 million tonnes (MT) of coal, Rs 573.12 crore from ferrying 8.99 MT of iron ore for exports, steel plants and other domestic users and Rs 872.99 crore generated by way of carrying 9.38 MT of cement, said Railway Ministry data.

The national transporter also earned Rs 570.17 crore from carrying 3.28 MT of foodgrain, Rs 502.08 crore from 3.47 MT of petroleum, oil and lubricants, Rs 554.51 crore from 3.35 MT of pig iron and finished steel from steel plants and other points, Rs 475.05 crore from 3.43 MT of fertilisers, Rs 178.65 crore from 1.64 MT of raw materials for steel plants except iron ore, Rs 445.84 crore from 3.72 MT via container service and Rs 665.29 crore from 6.48 MT of other goods.