New Delhi: Indian Railways on Monday declared that the national transporter has registered a 71 per cent increase in the total approximate earnings in the passenger segment during April to December 2022 at Rs 48,913 crore, in comparison to Rs 28,569 crore achieved during the same period last year.
An official communication confirmed that in the reserved passenger segment, the total approximate number of passengers booked from April 1 to December 31, 2022, is 59.61 crore as compared to 56.05 crore during the same period last year, showing an increase of 6 per cent. "The revenue generated from the reserved passenger segment during the period April 1 to December 31, 2022, is Rs 38,483 crore as compared to Rs 26,400 crore during the same period last year, showing an increase of 46 per cent," the rail ministry mentioned.
According to the official data, in the unreserved passenger segment, the total approximate number of passengers booked during the same eight-month span is 40,197 lakhs as compared to 16,968 lakhs during the same period last year, showing an increase of 137 per cent.
Hence, the revenue generated from the unreserved passenger segment during the period April 1 to December 31, 2022, is Rs 10,430 crore as compared to Rs 2,169 crore during the same period last year, showing an increase of 381 per cent.
The passenger movement in the past couple of years was impacted due to the global Covid pandemic and lockdown got imposed nationwide.
Hence, once the movement gets normalised a sudden jump was seen in rail revenue. Moreover, the higher airfare is also likely to be the reason during the festive time. Passengers opted for trains, rather than air travel, as it is comparatively cheaper right now, even.
Besides, the national transporter has brought modern and faster trains which are more comfortable to travel.
Further, Indian Railways said that its freight earnings until December of the current fiscal year were 16 per cent higher than they were during the same period the previous year. In the first nine months of the fiscal year 2022–23, railways made Rs 1,20,478 crore, a growth from Rs 1,04,040 crore the previous year.
A total freight loading of 1109.38 MT was reached from April to December, up from 1029.96 MT in the prior year, or an improvement of 8 per cent. For the first nine months of the fiscal year 2022–2023, railway freight loading has topped the previous year's loading and earnings, according to the department.