The Railways on Tuesday said it loaded the highest ever freight of 114.8 mt (million tonnes) for the month of May. The loading stood at 114.8 MT, 9.7% higher than 104.6 MT in May 2019.
“Despite the COVID challenges, freight figures continue to maintain the high momentum in terms of earnings and loading in May. On mission mode, the Railways’ freight made the highest-ever loading for May,” according to a statement by the Ministry of Railways.
The items transported include coal (54.52 million tonnes), iron ore (15.12 million tonnes), foodgrain (5.61 million tonnes), fertilizer (3.68 million tonnes), mineral oil (3.18 million tonnes), cement (5.36 million tonnes) and clinker (4.2 million tonnes).
The Railways said the wagon turnaround time improved by 26% — 4.81 days compared to 6.46 days in May 2019.
“Freight speed has doubled over the last 18 months. A few zones [around four] have registered an average speed of even above 50 kmph. Due to geographical conditions, certain sections offer good speed to freight trains. An average speed of 45.6 kmph is registered in May 2021 which is 26% more compared to 36.19 kmph for the same period.”
Oxygen Express
The Railways said so far it has delivered more than 22,916 metric tonnes liquid medical oxygen (LMO) to Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Assam.
Till now, 614 metric tonnes of LMO has been offloaded in Maharashtra, nearly 3,797 metric tonnes in Uttar Pradesh, 656 metric tonnes in Madhya Pradesh, 5,557 metric tonnes in Delhi, 2,089 metric tonnes in Haryana, 98 metric tonnes in Rajasthan, 2,440 metric tonnes in Karnataka, 320 metric tonnes in Uttarakhand, 2,190 metric tonnes in Tamil Nadu, 2,125 metric tonnes in Andhra Pradesh, 225 metric tonnes in Punjab, 380 metric tonnes in Kerala, 2062 metric tonnes in Telangana, 38 metric tonnes in Jharkhand and 320 metric tonnes in Assam.
