NEW DELHI: New Delhi Railway Station, designated to be developed as a world-class station, has retained its top position among the country’s 100 most earning and busiest railway stations for the financial year 2023-24, according to data released by the Railways.
West Bengal’s Howrah station stands second and Chennai’s MGR Central third. These three railway stations among the top 100 have set examples in annual earnings and passenger footfalls together.
New Delhi Railway Station earned more than Rs 3,337 crore with 39,362,272 passengers in 2023-24, followed by Howrah with over Rs 1,692 crore earning and 61,329,319 footfalls and MGR Central in Chennai with a revenue of Rs 1,299 crore from 30,599,837 passengers.
Other railway stations, all categorised as NSG-1 (Non-Suburban Grade-I), which followed the above three are Secunderabad, generating an annual earning of Rs 12,76 crore from 27,776,937 passengers, Hazrat Nizamuddin with Rs 1,227 crore revenue from 14,537,686 passengers, Lokmanaya Tilak terminal in Mumbai with Rs 1,036 crore from 14,680,379 passengers, Ahmedabad with Rs 1,010 crore from 18,260,021 passengers and Mumbai CST with Rs 9,82 crore from 51,652,230 passengers, according to the data.
In addition to these NGS-1 stations, Pune railway station in Maharashtra and Anand Vihar in Delhi also have figured among 100 top earning stations. Pune registered an annul earning of Rs 9,76 crore from the footfall of 22,256,812 passengers and Anand Vihar recorded Rs 8,44 crore from 12,235,275 passengers.
According to the official assessment of earnings by the railways, 22 stations of NSG-1 are among 100 top in terms od revenue generation. According to data, 16 stations of Northern Railway are among 100 top earning stations followed by 15 stations of Southern Railway, 11 of Central Railway, nine of East Central Railway, seven of Eastern Railway, and six of Northern Central Railway.
According to railway officials, the categorisation of railway stations is done every five years and the revision of this process for 2024-25 is due.
Other stations in Maharashtra which have figured on the top 100 list after Pune are Nagpur, Kalyan and Thane. Surat railway station, which connects the Gujarat’s commercial city with other parts of the country dealing with trading of diamond and textile, has also figures among 100 top earning stations generating an annual revenue of Rs 8,35 crore followed by KSR Bengaluru with an earning of Rs 8,03 crore, Patna Junction in Bihar with revenue of Rs 6,99 crore and Jaipur with revenue of Rs 6,98 crore.