HYDERABAD: The South Central Railway (SCR) zone has achieved its best-ever earnings in 2022-23 by recording Rs 18,973.14 crore in originating revenue compared to its previous best-ever earning of Rs 15,708.88 crore in 2018-19. In 2021-22, the SCR zone earned Rs 14,266 crore.
The operating ratio of SCR has also improved from 98.25 per cent in 2021-22 to 88.23 per cent in 2022-23. Authorities took proactive initiatives to address the needs of the freight customers with initiatives such as the development of goods shed and implementation of both tariff and non-tariff incentive measures.
This has in turn contributed towards SCR achieving its best-ever originating freight loading and revenue of 131.854 million tonnes (MT) and Rs 13,051.10 crore, respectively. The previous best performance was achieved in 2018-19 wherein originating freight loading and revenue were 122.5 MTs and Rs 10,954.69 crore respectively.
On the passenger front, SCR was the first to re-introduce 100 per cent mail express trains in its jurisdiction.
This combined with the continuous introduction of special trains, temporary as well permanent augmentation of coaches in trains having demand and also attaching extra coaches on a day-to-day basis, wherever feasible, have all contributed to the SCR achieving its best-ever originating passenger revenue of Rs 5,140.70 crore in 2022-23 against the previous best of Rs 4089.78 crore in 2018-19.
In terms of passengers, 255.59 million originating passengers travelled from SCR in 2022-23 compared to 127.4 million in 2021-22. In terms of track addition, proper planning and speedy implementation have resulted in the zone adding its best-ever track addition to its rail network. A record 384.42 km were added during 2022-23 compared to the previous best of 344 km in 2021-22. While 50.015 km of new lines were added during FY 2022-23, 151.486 km of double-line and 182.915 km of triple-lines were added to the rail network.
To enhance its capacity as well as the safety of its train operation, the SCR also commissioned 66 electronic interlocking systems.