East Coast Railway sets record target for freight this fiscal year

BHUBANESWAR: The East Coast Railway (ECoR) has set a target to load 210 million tonne (MT) of freight and create a new record during the current fiscal.

The zone had loaded 192 MT of freight during the last financial year.

“Despite damages to railway properties cyclone Fani, the ECoR will be the first railway zone to enter the 200 MT group this fiscal,” member (Rolling Stock) of Railway Board Rajesh Agrawal said after a review meeting here on Saturday.

He complimented all employees for making it the highest loading railway zone across Indian Railways last year and appreciated the quickest possible restoration of train services in the aftermath of the cyclone.

The loss due to the cyclone has been pegged at Rs 600 crore.

The ECoR has sought a special financial package for restoration works.

Agrawal informed that the station building at Puri which was damaged during cyclone will be ready in all respects by July 1.

The entire station will be equipped to handle special trains for Rath Yatra. As many as 194 special trains will run to handle the rush of devotees during the Yatra period. 

The ECoR will soon have 15 more rakes of Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches making it to total 30 rakes, which will be fitted to all important trains like Janshatabdi Express.

The workshop at Mancheswar will also be upgraded and will have facilities to handle maintenance of LHB coaches.

“It will have special type of wagons to carry two-wheelers and four-wheelers from far off production places to the zone. Local automobile dealers will greatly benefit,” Agrawal said.

The phase-II of Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) shed at Khurda Road has been sanctioned. Since all passenger trains will be having MEMU coaches in future, it will improve punctuality of trains.

ECoR General Manager Vidya Bhushan and additional General Manager Sudhir Kumar were present.