Southern Railway handled 3 per cent less freight for the financial year ending 2016 compared to the previous year, primarily due to the reduction in the quantity of coal transported in the region, its general manager Vashishta Johri said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters, he said that the quantity of freight handled by Southern Railway in 2015-2016 was 3 per cent lower than last year and 11 per cent lower than the target they had fixed. “There has been a dip in most zones of Indian Railways, not just Southern Railway. The daily loss in loading is 4,500 wagons per day compared to the target. The month of May has been slightly better than May 2015,” Mr. Johri said and hoped that the months to come will be even better.
On specific reasons, Mr. Johri said that large quantities of coal were stacked up in power plants in the region, especially in Tamil Nadu, but they were not entirely used. Hence, there was no transportation of coal from the mines to the power plants.
Further, a sizable quantity of cargo, normally handled through ports in Southern Railway’s jurisdiction had been diverted via Mangaluru (in Karnataka) and Mormugao (in Goa) ports, he said.
Earlier in the day, an air-conditioned waiting hall at Chennai Central station was inaugurated.
Officials hopeful of turnaround
