Ambala railway division’s ad revenue grows eightfold

Non-fare revenue has recorded an exponential increase of 1690%, the highest ever; we will work to increase our earnings from ATM services at the stations,” Kadyan told the HT, on the sidelines of a press meet called by divisional railway manager Mandeep Singh Bhatia

In financial year 2022-23, the Ambala railway division earned ₹8.11 crore in advertisement revenue­, eight times the ₹45 lakh in 2021-22, officials said on Wednesday.

The division has also increased the collection from catering and parking services, both under the sundry revenue category. (iStock)

A large share of non-fare revenue (NFR) comes from advertisements at the stations, and other services like cloak room management contract, ATM earnings and plastic bottle crusher machine, said senior divisional commercial manager Virender Kadyan.

“NFR has recorded an exponential increase of 1690%, the highest ever. We will work to increase our earnings from ATM services at the stations,” Kadyan told the HT, on the sidelines of a press meet called by divisional railway manager Mandeep Singh Bhatia.

The division has also increased the collection from catering and parking services, both under the sundry revenue category. There has been a jump of over 150%, from ₹1.75 crore to ₹4.55 crore, in catering earning, and 260%, from ₹1.41 crore to ₹5.17 crore, in parking collection, the officials added.

Bhatia said the division has earned total revenue of ₹3377.17 crore, a 6% increase from ₹3182.49 in 2021-22. This includes passenger revenue, goods revenue, sundry revenue and other revenues. “In 2022-2023, eight stations of the division were upgraded from mechanical interlocking to electronic interlocking. A total of 21 rain water harvesting systems were also commissioned. We have also raised the speed on five sections from 100 kmph to 110 kmph, including Bathinda – Sri Ganganagar, Chandigarh – Morinda Jn., New Morinda – Sanehwal, Dhuri-Jakhal and Jakhal-Hisar,” he added.