The Tiruchi Railway Division has witnessed an increase in freight loading in the first two months of the current fiscal in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous financial year, notwithstanding the lockdown. The Division handled 1.743 million tonnes of freight during the last two months (April and May). This was 26.5 % more than the corresponding period of the previous fiscal when the Tiruchi Division handled 1.377 million tonnes.
Correspondingly, the Division also saw a rise in freight revenue by 24 %. The revenue earned through freight loading was ₹84.78 crore in the first two months of the current fiscal, while it was ₹ 68. 5 crore during the corresponding period of the previous year. In addition to other commodities, Tiruchi division handled new traffic by loading two rakes of caustic soda from Chinna Babu Samudram falling under its limits. This new traffic fetched an additional loading of 4,412.8 tonnes in the month of May.
Sustained efforts by the division enabled in loading 15 rakes of clinker from two major private cement plants - one functioning at Ariyalur and the other at Ichchangaadu. While one consignment went to Kharagpur in West Bengal, the other was transported to Thalayuthu near Tirunelveli. The other commodities loaded in the division in the current fiscal were coal, cement, food grains, iron ore and fertilisers, a release issued by the Tiruchi Railway Division here said, adding that the division continued to remain the highest in respect of freight loading in the Southern Railway zone.
