WR Press Release No. 2020/08Mumbai, 1st Aug, 2020
DESPITE TOUGHEST CHALLENGES DURING LOCKDOWN, WR ACHIEVED EARNINGS OF RS 2809 CRORE FROM GOODS TRAFFIC
Western Rly has continued with its transportation of essential commodities through its parcel special trains and goods trains. Inspite of labour constraints due to pandemic Covid-19, during the lock down and current situation, WRhas left no stone unturned to keep the chain of supply moving. This could be made possible only through the concerted efforts of the officers and staff of Western Railway.
According to a press release issued by Shri Sumit Thakur- Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Rly, since 22nd March, 2020, total 10,488rakes of goods trains were loaded till31stJuly, 2020, whilethe earnings from the loading of goods traffic over WR, has beenRs 2809.64 crore. Loading in the 10,798 rakes included various essential commodities such as POL - 1155, Fertilizers - 1840, Salt - 586, Foodgrain- 109, Cement - 844, Coal - 425, Containers – 5076& General Goods - 50 rakes, totaling to22.1 Million Tonnes.In addition to this, Millennium parcel rakes, including milk rakes carrying essential commodities such as medicine, frozen food, milk powder,liquid milk and general consumer goods were also transported, mainly to Northern & North East regions.Total 21,157 Freight trains were interchanged with other Railways, including 10,561trains handed over and 10,596 trains taken over at different interchange points of Western Railway. During the period, important inward rakes such as 1406 rakes of Jumbo, 695 rakes of BOXN and 598 rakes of BTPN were unloaded at various stations over Western Rly,despite shortage of labourers.
Shri Thakur further stated that, in addition to above goods traffic, since 23rd March to 31st July, 2020, commodities weighing more than 88 thousand tonnes have been transported by Western Rly through its 435 parcel special trains, which mainly included agricultural produce, medicines, fish, milk etc.The earnings generated through this transportation, has been above Rs 28 crore. During this period, 66 milk special trains were run by Western Rly, with a load of approx. 50 thousand tonnes and 100% utilization of the wagons, generating revenue of Rs 8.60 crore. Similarly, 353 Covid-19 special parcel trains with a load of more than 31 thousandtonnes were also run to transport various essential commodities, for which the revenue earned was aboutRs 15.85 crore. In addition to this, 16 indented rakes carrying 6956tonnes were also run with almost 100% utilization generating revenue of approx. Rs 3.55 crore. WR has scheduled to run various timetabled Parcel special trains during lockdown period to different parts of the country. Out of these, three Parcel Special trains departed from WR on 1stAug, 2020, which included a parcel rake from Bandra Terminus to Jammu Tawi, an indent rake from Karambeli to New Guwahati and a milk rake from Palanpur to Hind Terminal.
LOSS OF PASSENGER EARNINGS DUE TO LOCKDOWN
The total loss of earnings over Western Railway on account of Corona Virus, has been approx.Rs 1959 crore, which includes Rs 291 crore for suburban section and Rs 1668 crore for non-suburban. In spite of this, resulting to cancellation of tickets since 1st March, 2020 till 31stJuly, 2020, Western Railway has ensured torefundRs. 407.84 crore. It's worth mentioning that in this refund amount, Mumbai division alone, has ensured refund of more than Rs 195.68 crore. Till now, 62.73 lakh passengers have cancelled their tickets over entire Western Railway & have received their refund amount accordingly.
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