Railway freight loading rises 5% during Apr-Aug

The increase in freight volume was mainly due to double-digit growth rates in originating loading for steel, iron ore, cement, container

At a time when the core sector growth has slowed down, the railways has posted a 5 per cent rise in its freight volume for the first five months of the current financial year (FY18), pushed by double-digit growth in loadings of commodities like steel, iron ore, and cement.

For the April-August period in 2017-18, railway freight loading stood at 467.73 million tonnes (mt), compared to 446 mt and 452.19 mt during the same period in 2016-17 and 2015-16, respectively. 

The increase in freight volume was mainly due to double-digit growth rates in originating loading for steel (22.3 per cent),