Rail freight revenue short by Rs 7,000 cr

Drop in coal, cement bookings in first 9 mths; however, passenger traffic collection up after 3 yrs

Indian Railways’ (IR) freight revenue has lost an estimated Rs 7,000 crore in the financial year thus far, mainly due to a 50 million tonne (mt) shortfall in expected coal traffic, besides a drop in cement movement due to demonetisation.

The total loading of coal on the railways in April-December, first nine months of this financial year, was 390 mt, compared to last year’s 409 mt for the same period. Coal India (CIL), the government-owned near-monopoly, had agreed with IR to load 437 mt in this time. The railways’ estimated loss of revenue on this count is Rs 5,000 crore.