Railways' earnings rise despite fall in ticket bookings

Indian Railways registered a growth of 12 per cent in its revenue in the first six months of the current financial year. 

However, passenger volumes continued to fall, with a 0.06 per cent drop of bookings. The non-suburban (long distance) sector registering a drop of two per cent.

The total approximate earnings on an originating basis for April-September were Rs 73,404 crore (Rs 734.04 billion) compared with Rs 65,526 crore (Rs 655.26 billion) during the corresponding period last year, an increase of 12 per cent. 

The yearly target for overall earnings is Rs 1,50,415 crore (Rs 1.50 trillion) for 2014-15. Despite the lean period of June to August, when freight volumes fall, the Railways has already achieved about half its target in six months.

Total earnings from goods during this period were Rs 48,772 crore (Rs 487.72 billion), compared with Rs 44,162 crore (Rs 441.62 billion) during the corresponding period last year, an increase of 10 per cent. 

Passenger earnings was Rs 21,079 crore (Rs 210.79 billion) compared with Rs 18,100 crore (Rs 181 billion) in the corresponding period last year, a rise of 17 per cent.

The total numbers of passengers booked during April-September were 4,253 million compared with 4,256 million during the corresponding period last year, a decrease of 0.06 per cent.

In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the numbers of passengers booked were 2,311 million (231.1 crore) and 1,942 million (194.2 crore) compared to 2,273 million (227.3 crore) and 1,982 million (198.2 crore) registering an increase of 1.65% and a decrease of 2.02% respectively during the same period last year.