The Hindu Business Line : Rlys freight performance recovers in May

New Delhi June 18 The Indian Railways' freight performance appears to have recovered in May with goods movement recording a 3.71 per cent growth (compared to May 2006) in net tonne kilometre (NTKM) — a key performance indicator.

The indicator, which reflects the combined effect of increase in loadings and distance for which Railways moves goods, touched 41,188 million NTKM in May compared to 39,715 million NTKM in May last year.

The Railways was concerned in April as the growth flattened at 0.33 per cent touching 39,552 million NTKM compared to 39,420 million NTKM in April last.

LOADINGS UP

The increase in NTKM was supported by a 7.17 per cent growth in total goods loaded during the month even though Railways had witnessed a 3.45 per cent decline in average lead (the average distance for which Railways moves freight).

The Railways loaded a total of 63.85 million tonnes of (mt) goods in May owing to increased demand for transportation of iron ore for exports, coal, and other goods.

The goods for which the Railways saw a drop in demand were fertilisers, foodgrains and petroleum products. Demand for moving iron ore to ports for exports went up by 71 per cent and Railways loaded 4.03 mt in May 07 as against 2.35 mt in May 06.

However, the average distance for which Railways moved goods declined to 644 km in May 07 compared to 667 km in May 06.

The June freight loading performance of Railways would be hit due to the agitation launched by the Gujjar community in Rajasthan because of which several goods trains were stabled, disruptions on the Kottavalasa-Kirandul (KK) Line (one of the key iron ore moving routes). Rail movement was suspended for about two weeks this month on the 450-km long KK line. The suspension was caused by non-availability of electricity as the Maoists had blown up transmission towers in Chhattisgarh.