Vijayawada Railway Division logs highest gross earnings at Rs 5,306 cr

The South Central Railway (SCR) zone's Vijayawada Division has logged impressive financial metrics for the fiscal 2022-23, which include the highest ever gross earnings of Rs 5,306 crore and highest ever passenger revenue of Rs 1,247 crore among others, said an official on Thursday.

Gross earnings rose by 66 per cent when compared to fiscal 2021-22 while the Division's previous best of Rs 5,136 crore was logged in 2018-19.

Shivendra Mohan, divisional railway manager (DRM), said, "Divisional performance in 2022-23 is path breaking in the history of the Division, and exceeded the set targets and on all major fronts."

Incidentally, the passenger revenues shot up by 70 per cent in comparison to Rs 730 crore recoded in the previous fiscal. However, freight business has emerged as the cash cow, contributing 74 per cent of the overall revenues, followed by 23 per cent from passenger business, 1.7 per cent from Other Coaching and 1.3 per cent from sundries.

According to the DRM, 61.5 million passengers originated in the Division during the fiscal against an annual target of Rs 62.8 million. Originating passengers grew by 109 per cent from 29.3 million recorded in 2021-22.

Likewise, the Division achieved its second highest ever freight earnings at Rs 3,912 crore, a growth rate of 67 per cent while highest freight earnings of Rs 3,968 crore was logged in 2018-19.

Meanwhile, the Krishnapatnam Port loaded a record 13.76 MT of coal in 2022-23, operating 4,749 rakes and earning Rs 1,987 crore. Similarly, Kakinada Port registered its highest ever freight earnings at Rs 1,213 crore.

The Vijayawada Division achieved its second highest ever parcel revenues at Rs 22.4 crore in 2022-23. Further, it won the contract to develop a new greenfield Gati Shakti Cargo terminal on railway land in Bikkavolu.

Moreover, consistent efforts from the business development units procured new streams of business such as traffic in iron ore, timber waste, maize, laterite, fly ash bricks, wheat, fish feed and edible oil among others.

Ticket checking penalty earnings also chipped in with a revenue of Rs 59 crore for the Vijayawada Railway Division.