Indian Railways back on track, stems fall in freight traffic to 9%

Among the commodities, the only two commodities that showed positive growth were foodgrains and chemical manures

The Indian Railways on Thursday said it arrested the decline in freight traffic to 9 per cent in the half-year period ended September at 533 million tonnes (mt).

The April-June quarter with 241 mt freight volume was a washout for the Railways due to the lockdown, registering a 21 per cent decline.

Freight earnings, however, saw a decline of 17 per cent at Rs 50,168 crore during the first half of the current financial year, even despite 31 per cent fall at Rs 22,266 crore in the April-June period. In September, Railways handled 102 mt of freight, up 15 per cent compared