VIJAYAWADA: Freight operations and loading of the South Central Railway (SCR) Zone in October surpassed the figures recorded in the same month last year. The zone has recorded freight loading of 8.489 MT in October 2020 as against 8.224 MT in October 2019 despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
More importantly, the upswing in the growth continued to be broad-based with higher levels of loading being witnessed in almost all commodities, except coal. The zone — home to some of the best of the cement industries — has recorded a growth of 35 percent in cement loading in October.
Similarly, the loading of foodgrains and fertilisers grew at the rate of 57 per cent and 32 per cent (0.776 MTs and 0.661 MTs), respectively. Loading in containers also increased by 25 per cent (0.116 MTs).
This fiscal, the Indian Railways has announced several freight concessions and introduced several policies for the transportation of essential commodities such as food grains, fertilisers, cement, etc. SCR general manager Gajanan Mallya on Tuesday said business development units (BDUs) set up in zonal and divisional levels have been instrumental in not only strengthening the existing freight traffic, but also succeeded in generating new traffic.
“Though there is a decline in coal loading, a traditional traffic for SCR, persistent efforts by the teams has led not only to the rebound in the growth in freight loading but also in making the growth more broad-based. Regular interactions with customers were held to make customers aware of the several advantages of Railways’ loading.” he observed.
Also, the average speed of freight trains has almost doubled to 51 kmph this year as against 26 kmph in October, 2019. The GM praised both zonal and divisional teams of operations and commercial branches in achieving the enhanced freight loading. He advised the BDUs to continue concentrating on generating new traffic.