Waltair Railway Division achieved good revenue growth in freight and passenger segments, says DRM

The Waltair Division of East Coast Railway (ECoR) has achieved good growth both in freight and passenger revenue in the first quarter of the 2023-24 financial year when compared to the last fiscal year. It has become the highest freight-loading division in the country in the first quarter of this fiscal, says Divisional Railway Minister Anup Satpathy.

The Waltair Division of East Coast Railway (ECoR) has achieved good growth both in freight and passenger revenue in the first quarter of the 2023-24 financial year when compared to the last fiscal year. It has become the highest freight-loading division in the country in the first quarter of this fiscal, says Divisional Railway Minister Anup Satpathy.

Announcing this at a media conference here on July 6 (Thursday), Mr. Satpathy said that the number of passengers served by the division during April, May and June this year was put at 7.75 million when compared to 6.27 million during the same period last year, registering a growth of 23.6 %. The passenger revenue was put at ₹192 crore as against ₹170.45 crore during the corresponding period. The other coaching (passenger) earnings has increased to ₹18.10 crore from ₹16.91 crore during the same period.

On the freight traffic front, the division has achieved 18.13 million tonnes (MTs) during the first quarter of 2023-24 as against 16.28 MTs last year, registering 11.36% increase. The freight earnings increased to ₹2,271. 58 crore from ₹1,858. 36 crore, registering an increase of 22.29%. Similarly, parcel loading registered a growth of 80.86% in volume and 92.58% in revenue.

Expressing satisfaction at the progress made by the division on various fronts, the DRM said that the total goods earnings increased from ₹1,880.68 crore in the first quarter of 2022-23 to ₹2,295.81 crore during the first quarter of this fiscal. The total divisional revenue increased from ₹2,077.71 crore to ₹2,513.66 crore, registering an increase of 20.98%.

Mr. Satpathy said that after the train accident near Bahanaga Bazaar railway station in Odisha, a top priority was being given to safety. “All officers of Waltair Division have been instructed to conduct regular inspection of various safety parameters such as goomties and location boxes. Thorough counselling and training of Signal & Telecom (S&T) staff has been launched to enable them to take prompt response whenever they find anything is amiss,” the DRM said.

Referring to the vacancies of safety category staff in the engineering department, he said that there were around 2,500 vacancies in the entire division and the plan was to reduce them to 2,000 by the end of the year.

He warned that those resorting to unsafe practices would face severe punishment including dismissal from service.