Indian Railways freight loading for August surpasses last year's loading of same month

Indian Railways freight loading for the month of August this year surpassed last year's loading of the same month. Railways Ministry said, in August, the loading was over 94.33 million tonnes, which is 3.31 million tonnes higher compared to 91.02 million tonnes carried last year.

This means the Railways has been able to gain the lost ground in freight transportation despite COVID-19 pandemic that struck India and led to the declaration of approx. 2 months of lockdown in March.

Meanwhile, in the period, the railways increased the speed of freight trains to enable it to the speedy delivery of goods. The average speed of freight trains saw around a 72% increase in the year 2020-21 as compared to last year. August 2020 saw an increase in the speed of freight trains of about 94% compared to August 2019, said the railways.

This included 40.49 million tonnes of coal, 12.46 million tonnes of iron ore, 6.24 million tonnes of food grains, 5.23 million tonnes of fertilizers, 4.63 million tonnes of cement (excluding clinker) and 3.2 million tonnes of mineral oil.

The Ministry said, several concessions are also being given to make Railways freight movement very attractive. It said the COVID-19 has been used by Railways as an opportunity to improve all-round efficiencies and performances.