North Central Railway registers 21.3% growth in originating freight loading

At the end of the first quarter of the financial year 2022-23, North Central Railway (NCR) has registered a 21.3% growth in originating freight loading.

NCR loaded 5.24 million tonnes of cargo from April-June 2022 surpassing all previous records. This is the best ever quarter-ending figure for NCR since its inception in 2003. Freight loading of 4.32 million tonnes was achieved in the corresponding period of the previous year, informed chief public relations officer (CPRO) of NCR Shivam Sharma.

A total of 1.81 mt of loading was achieved in June 2022 alone which is the best ever loading performance by NCR in a single month. This yielded revenue of ₹181.02 crores, he added.

Originating freight revenue during these first three months remained ₹528.56 crores, which is 20.53 % more than the originating freight earning of ₹438.54 crores recorded in the first quarter of the previous financial year, said CPRO.

Among the three divisions of NCR, the Jhansi division topped the list by contributing 2.32 million tonnes of freight loading while Prayagraj and Agra divisions followed by loading 1.80 and 1.12 million tonnes respectively, he shared.

NCR, which spans the states of UP, MP, Rajasthan and Haryana, is an important constituent of Indian Railways and contributes to the loading of containers from Dadri, Kanpur, Agra and Malanpur; fertilizers from Panki near Kanpur; cement from Parichha (near Jhansi) and Chunar; Petroleum Oil Lubricants from BAD refinery Mathura, HPTR near Kanpur and BPCL Panki; foodgrain loading from various places like Etah, Kanpur, Sonbhadra, Mirzapur, Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Shankargarh and Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh and Tikamgarh, Datia, Dabra and Newari of Madhya Pradesh among other locations.

All the commodities have shown a surge in the loading except cement which registers a slight dip as compared to the previous year. General Manager of NCR Pramod Kumar congratulated officers on the overall loading performance but expressed concerns over the dip in cement loading. He instructed the officers to put all efforts to pull the cement loading and sustain the momentum throughout the remaining year so that the target set by the Railway Board could be surpassed.

GM instructed the DRMs of the three divisions and concerned officers of headquarter to conduct regular freight customer meets and facilitate merchants to use Railway as a preferred mode of transport.

SUGGESTED BOX:

A significant achievement of NCR in the first quarter of FY 2022-23 has been the revenue generated through the sale of scrap. Scrap worth ₹46.57 crore was sold during the period thereby surpassing the proportionate target of ₹40 crores set by the Railway Board.