The Railways' freight loading for this month, till September 6, was almost 11 per cent higher than that of last year for the same period and earning rose by around Rs 130 crore, the national transporter said in a statement on Monday.

'In September 2020, till September 6, the Railways loading was 19.19 million tonnes which is 10.41 per cent (1.81 million tonnes) higher compared to last year's loading for the same period (17.38 million tonnes),' it said.

In this period, the Indian Railways earned Rs 1,836.15 crore from freight loading which is Rs 129.68 crore higher compared to last year's earnings of Rs 1,706.47 crore for the same period, the statement said.

This month, the Railways has so far loaded 8.11 million tonnes of coal, 2.59 million tonnes of iron ore, 1.2 million tonnes of foodgrains, 1.03 million tonnes of fertilisers and 1.05 million tonnes of cement, excluding clinker.

'It is worth mentioning that a number of concessions/ discounts are also being given in the Indian Railways to make Railways' freight movement very attractive. COVID-19 has been used by the Indian Railways as an opportunity to improve all round efficiency and performance,' the Railways said.