From 1 June 2020 to 21 June 2020, the national transporter had moved 92 per cent of the freight transported in the same period last year.

Another big achievement by Indian Railways! Piyush Goyal-chaired Railway Ministry has achieved another significant milestone in freight transportation. From 1 June 2020 to 21 June 2020, the national transporter had moved 92 per cent of the freight transported in the same period last year. According to details shared by the Railway Ministry, during June 2019, Indian Railways had moved 70 million tonnes of freight, while in June 2020 (from 1 June to 21 June), the national transporter had moved 65 million tonnes of freight. The movement of freight similar to levels of last year’s same period is an encouraging sign that Indian Railways freight traffic is back on track amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this month, the Railway Minister had said that since the national transporter has a fixed cost, the focus of Indian Railways in this COVID-19 crisis has been the moving of foodgrains, coal, fertilizers as well as other essential items and Shramik Special trains to their destinations.

Recently, the Chairman of the Railway Board, V K Yadav said that the economic activities of Indian Railways have picked up. The foodgrain loading has doubled as well as fertilizer, cement and coal loading have picked up too. Yadav also mentioned that the way freight is picking up and the way the national transporter is planning and making efforts to bring more commodities into its freight basket, Indian Railways will be able to reach last year’s figures and earn more revenue than the last year.

There has also been a big improvement in the average speed of Indian Railways’ freight train services. According to the Railway Ministry, as on 21 June 2020, the average speed of freight trains has almost doubled as compared to the average speed of freight trains, last year. As per the details shared by the Railway Ministry, during the month of June 2019, the average speed of freight trains was 23 km per hour, while as on 21 June 2020, the average speed of freight train services in June 2020 is 42 km per hour.