TIRUCHY: The Tiruchy railway division has set a freight target of 15 million tonne (MT) for the financial year 2023-24. Steps are on to achieve the target, said officials. In the FY 2022-23, the railway division surpassed the set target of 1.9 MT by handling a total of 13.52 MT of goods.
At present, the Tiruchy division maintains good sheds in about 23 locations, including Tiruchy, Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Mayiladurai, Sirkazhi, Chidambaram and other such locations in the delta region. Apart from this, the railway division has decided to set up good sheds in Thiruthuraipoondi and Agasthiarpatti at the earliest.
An official said, "The Tiruchy railway division handles more food grain transportation than other divisions of the Southern Railway since the delta region, too, comes within its purview. We expect to set a new record this year.
The food grain transportation target set is 3 MT." It is to be noted that about 90 percent of food grain transportation in the Southern Railway is handed by the Tiruchy division, which, last year, set a new record by handling 2.9 MT of food grains.
The division also mulls setting a record in coal transportation too. "We handle coal, food grain, cement, fertilisers, iron ore and other goods. Of these, coal is one of the major goods as its transportation alone amounts to 10 MT of the set target. Last year, the division handled about 8.6 MT of coal," another official said.