Indian Railways registers highest ever freight loading in January 2021; details here

Indian Railways creates new record in freight loading! The highest ever freight loading figures have been registered by Indian Railways i.e. 119.79 million tonnes (MT) in the month of January 2021. The last best freight loading figure of 119.74 MT was recorded in March 2019. According to the Railway Ministry, on mission mode, the freight loading figures of Indian Railways for the last few months have crossed the loading as well as earnings for the same period of last year. It is being expected by the Railway Ministry that Indian Railways’ cumulative freight loading will surpass the freight loading figures of last year.

As per the statistics provided by the Railway Ministry for February 2021 (so far), the freight loading of Indian Railways was 30.54 million tonnes which include 4.15 million tonnes of iron ore, 13.61 million tonnes of coal, 1.03 million tonnes of fertilizers, 1.04 million tonnes of foodgrains, 0.96 million tonnes of mineral oil as well as 1.97 million tonnes of cement (excluding clinker).

According to the Railway Ministry, several concessions or discounts are also being given in Indian Railways in order to make the movement of freight attractive. The COVID-19 pandemic has been used by the national transporter as an opportunity to upgrade all round efficiencies and performances, the Railway Ministry said. Moreover, in a bid to attract new business as well as incentivize other existing clients, the Railway Ministry has conducted meetings with the top leadership of power, automobiles, iron and steel, cement, coal, and logistics service providers. Also, Business Development Units (BDUs) at Divisional and Zonal levels, as well as near doubling of freight speed, are contributing to sustainable growth momentum, the ministry added.

Earlier, the Railway Ministry had said that improvements in Indian Railways’ freight movements will be institutionalized as well as incorporated in the zero based time table.