The South Central Railway (SCR) has been carrying 35,420 passengers daily through the 12 special trains to various destinations across the country and also through 16 more pairs of trains passing through the zone. Before the pandemic, the passenger count had been to the tune of 10.5 lakh a day!
While the a crash in earnings from passenger fares is now accepted as certain by the railway authorities, what is interesting is that the number of reserved passengers, even when the 750 trains were running, has to be to the extent of 1.5 lakh only, claim senior officials. If about 1.5 lakh passengers travelled on MMTS suburban trains, the other seven lakh passengers a day used to travel in unreserved compartments.
And, since the special trains were started, only reserved pre-booked passengers have been allowed to enter the stations and trains after adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols of thermal screening, social distancing, with no linen being provided and limited catering services available.
The fixed number of trains and only reserved coaches showed that whatever earnings are obtained through fares are pretty consistent. For instance,it was ₹21.41 crore in June, ₹21.80 crore in July, ₹24.39 crore in August and 8 crore so far in September. Senior officials do not expect substantial change in the pattern in passenger transport unless the pandemic eases and more States permit the services.
But, hope is on the freight and even if the last year's ₹9,000 crore revenue looks unlikely as of now, officials are confident of decent revenue by the end of the financial year as was indicated by general manager Gajajan Mallya during his virtual media interaction. About 158 special freight trains have been run from April, carrying 38,902 tonnes of material, third highest among all divisions till August.
Apart from running three time-tabled parcel trains towards Howrah, Amritsar and Guwahati, a brand new freight terminal at Medchal got operationalised. Hitherto-neglected good sheds, where loading and unloading took place, were being modernised with 37 of the 136 by the railways and 32 with private sector participation, said Mr. Mallya.
When compared to 2019, the SCR has managed to improve transport of foodgrains like rice, pulses, chillies, and turmeric along with fertilisers from 9% (4.5 MT) to 22% (6.9 MT); cement went up from 22% to 26% even though coal fell from 60% to 41%. Overall, this month 4.9 MT of freight was moved and it is slightly more than last year at same time at 4.8 MT which is an "encouraging sign," said the officials.