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NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways has recorded the highest-ever earning of Rs 2.31 lakh crore from freight and passenger segment in 2022-23, which is 28% more than the previous financial year. This is also a rare occasion when the national transporter’s revenue from these two key segments has also surpassed the revised estimate of Rs 2.29 lakh crore, sources said.
The data available on railway ministry’s dashboard “Raidrishti” till March 31 shows transportation of around 1,512 million tonnes (MTs) of freight, which is the maximum ever and also more than the revised estimate of the year ended on Friday. In 2021-22, the railways transported around 1,416 MTs of cargo by trains.
The details also show that movement of coal and coke, mainly used at thermal power plants, had the lion’s share, both in terms of tonnage and revenue during last year, though the rate of increase in percentage terms was maximum in the case of chemicals and manures.
While there has been a trend of increase in freight movement by rails in recent years, the spike in railways’ revenue was more in both reserved and unreserved passenger categories during 2022-23 as train operation was completely normalised post Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, the earning from unreserved passenger ticket segment was Rs 14,616 crore, an increase of 300% over 2021-22 and in the vase of reserved passenger category, the revenue rose by 38.6%.
As railways targets to introduce more Vande Bharat and other modern trains, the revenue from passenger segment is likely to increase further. Similarly, the increased thrust of getting more cargo to move by railways and introduction of parcel trains is also likely to push revenue from freight movement.
“We need to increase our revenue to meet operational expenses and also to invest in more projects. Addition of more wagons, electric locomotives and fixing the issues and key projects that delay freight movement will go a long way in increasing the modal share of cargo moved by rails,” said an official.
The data available on railway ministry’s dashboard “Raidrishti” till March 31 shows transportation of around 1,512 million tonnes (MTs) of freight, which is the maximum ever and also more than the revised estimate of the year ended on Friday. In 2021-22, the railways transported around 1,416 MTs of cargo by trains.
The details also show that movement of coal and coke, mainly used at thermal power plants, had the lion’s share, both in terms of tonnage and revenue during last year, though the rate of increase in percentage terms was maximum in the case of chemicals and manures.
While there has been a trend of increase in freight movement by rails in recent years, the spike in railways’ revenue was more in both reserved and unreserved passenger categories during 2022-23 as train operation was completely normalised post Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, the earning from unreserved passenger ticket segment was Rs 14,616 crore, an increase of 300% over 2021-22 and in the vase of reserved passenger category, the revenue rose by 38.6%.
As railways targets to introduce more Vande Bharat and other modern trains, the revenue from passenger segment is likely to increase further. Similarly, the increased thrust of getting more cargo to move by railways and introduction of parcel trains is also likely to push revenue from freight movement.
“We need to increase our revenue to meet operational expenses and also to invest in more projects. Addition of more wagons, electric locomotives and fixing the issues and key projects that delay freight movement will go a long way in increasing the modal share of cargo moved by rails,” said an official.
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