Railways aims to top pre-Covid traffic, ferry 8.6 bn passengers in FY23

The Railways was facing criticism for higher fares being charged during the pandemic

The Indian Railways is ready to go full steam to restore passenger traffic to pre-pandemic levels, albeit with lowered revenue expe­ctations. According to the Budget Estimates (BE) for 2022-23 (FY23), the national transporter expects to ferry 8.6 billion passengers in the year. This the same number of passengers estimated by the Railways in Budget 2021-22 (FY22).

Under the Revised Estimates (RE) for FY22, the Railways has set itself a target for transporting 3.5 billion passengers in FY22.

The higher footfall is based on the prospect that travel will resume once the pandemic retreats. This was the overarching perception when the FY22 BE