Waltair Division breaks Nov loading records, crosses 1,700 loading barrier

The Waltair Division of the East Coast Railway zone broke the record for rake loading in November 2023. The division loaded 1,791 rakes in November 2023, which is 14.5 percent up from the 1564 rakes loaded on November 2022.

This beats the previous best of 1668 rakes loaded on November 20 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when limited Mail Express/passenger trains were run.

Waltair division manager Saurabh Prasad said, "November 23 has been an exceptional month for Waltair Division as far as loading performance is concerned. We have beaten all records, We have done 6.51 MT during November 23 as against only 5.6 MT during November 2022. This is a 16 per cent increase over last year. This also beats the previous best of 6 MT during the Covid-19 period, when only limited passenger trains were run. We have also broken the 1700 rake loading barrier on November 23."

The Waltair Division is one of three railway divisions in the East Coast Railway zone. In 2020-21, the division loaded 61.17 million tonnes.

Prasad further said that this quantum jump has come because of increased loading in the Kothavalasa-Kirandul (KK) line.

"In the KK line last year we did only 350 rakes of loading. This year we have increased it to 484 rakes which is a 38 percent jump in the KK line. This has come through a lot of coordinated effort with our freight customers. We have reviewed our crew bases and crew links and strengthened them. We have worked out details regarding the planning of assets in the KK line especially after the landslide which took place in September and October," he added.

In November 2022, Waltair Division loaded 5.60 MT. In November 2023, Waltair Division shattered all November records by loading a record of 6.51 MT, i.e., 16.25 per cent higher than the previous November. This also beat by 7 per cent the best-ever November month loading record of 6.08 MT in Nov-20 during the Covid-19 pandemic when limited Mail Express/passenger was run.

The Division also achieved the best-ever National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) Iron Ore loading of 2.04 MT on November 23 while the previous best was 1.86 MT on November 20. The best-ever Gangavaram Port loading of 1.52 MT was achieved on November 23 while the previous best was 1.48 MT.

KK line loading in November increased from 350 rakes on November 22 to 484 rakes in November 2023, which is a huge 38 per cent jump in loading rakes.