The Hindu Business Line : Southern Railway passenger volume up 12%, earnings 16%

Chennai, Aug. 8 Attribute it to the rising air fares or the increase in petrol and diesel prices, Southern Railway is seeing a healthy growth in passenger traffic and earnings, both on the long-distance trains and the suburban railway system in Chennai.

In the first quarter of this financial year, Southern Railway’s passenger volume increased by 12 per cent and earnings by 16 per cent. In the Chennai suburban railway system alone, passenger volume has gone up by 11 per cent and earnings by 13 per cent.

The Chennai-Madurai-Nagercoil sector continues to be the biggest revenue earner for the Southern Railway, accounting for nearly a fourth of the zonal railway’s passenger earnings. Southern Railway says that aligning passenger special trains to demand patterns have brought in Rs 15 crore in the first quarter of this year.

Rising traffic

Passenger traffic on the Chennai-Bangalore sector continues to grow, and almost all the trains daily (at least six a day) run to full capacity. The Shatabdi Express, which leaves Chennai at six in the morning to reach Bangalore five and a half hours later, has wait-listed passengers enough to fill an extra coach (72 seats) daily, according to senior railway officials.

Railway officials do not see anything unusual in the growth in passenger traffic on all the sectors and more so on the Chennai-Bangalore sector. However, there are some in the travel industry who suggest that information technology companies in Bangalore now prefer their senior staff to take a train between Chennai and Bangalore rather than fly — a move not just from the cost point of view but also because of the longer commuting time to the new airport at Devanahalli in Bangalore.

Chennai-Bangalore leg

In the first quarter of 2008-09, Southern Railway ferried nearly 28 per cent more passengers on the Chennai-Bangalore leg, a little more than six lakh against just over five lakh for the same period last year. Its revenues from this sector alone grew 4.5 per cent, from Rs 15.55 crore to Rs 16.25 crore during the same period.

Overall, its first quarter passenger earnings grew 20 per cent to Rs 321.19 crore from Rs 268.71 crore previously.