Railways' freight revenue up 10.11 per cent in April-December 2009

Indian Railways generated Rs42,146.84 crore of revenue from commodity freight traffic during April-December 2009 against Rs38,278.55 crore during the corresponding period of the last financial year - an increase of 10.11 per cent.

Railways carried 652.63 million tonnes of commodity freight traffic during April-December 2009 against 606.74 million tonnes during the corresponding period last year, an increase of 7.56 per cent, a government release said.

The net tonne kilometres (NTKM) went up from 391,163 million during April-December 2008 to 429,728 million during April-December 2009, showing an increase of 9.86 per cent.

Out of the total earnings of Rs5,116.35 crore from commodity freight traffic during December 2009, Rs2,043.24 crore came from transportation of 35.68 million tonnes of coal, followed by Rs732.10 crore from 11.58 million tonnes of iron ore for exports, steel plants and for other domestic user, Rs444.99 crore from 8.03 million tonnes of cement, Rs354.77 crore from 3.40 million tonnes of foodgrains, Rs272.92 crore from 3.36 million tonnes of petroleum oil and lubricant (POL), Rs288.69 crore from 2.58 million tonnes of pig iron and finished steel from steel plants and other points, Rs322.20 crore from 4.18 million tonnes of fertilisers, Rs67.95 crore from 0.88 million tonnes of raw material for steel plants except iron ore, Rs223.82 crore from 2.83 million tonnes by container service and Rs365.67 crore from 5.71 million tonnes of other goods, the release said.