Indian Railways recorded freight loading of 119.32 mt in August 2022, its best ever for the month. .
The incremental loading for the month was 8.69 MT, which was a 7.86 per cent growth over that in August 2021.
“With this, Indian Railways has had 24 straight months of best ever monthly freight loading,” the Railways Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The cumulative freight loading from April 1 this year to August 31 was 620.87 MT as against 562.75 MT achieved in 2021-22. This incremental loading of 58.11 MT, represented growth of 10.32 per cent , the Ministry said.
IR achieved an incremental loading of 9.2 MT in coal, followed by 0.71 MT in fertilisers, 0.68 MT in balance other goods and 0.62 MT in containers.
Automobile loading
“Increase in automobile loading has been another highlight of the freight business this fiscal, with 2,206 rakes being loaded between April-August 2022, as compared to 1,314 rakes during the same period of last year, representing 68 per cent growth,” the Ministry said.
It further said Indian Railways’ efforts to increase coal supply to power houses, in coordination with the Ministry of Power and Coal, has been one of the key features of the freight performance in August.
The loading of coal (both domestic and imported) to power houses increased by 10.46 MT in August, with 44.64 MT being moved, as against 34.18 MT last year. This was a growth of 31 per cent.
Cumulatively, in the first five months of the year, Railways loaded more than 58.41 MT of extra coal to power houses as compared to the same period last year, registering a growth of over 32 per cent.