Railways post over 6% rise in income

Railways have posted over six per cent increase in earnings during the first half of the current financial year and registered a growth of over four per cent in passenger bookings.

The PSU behemoth, between April and September, earned Rs 40,910 crore (Rs 409.1 billion) against Rs 38,358 crore (Rs 383.58 billion) during the corresponding period last year, marking an increase of 6.65 per cent.

Of the total earnings, Rs 27,631 crore (Rs 276.31 billion) came from the total goods transported, showing an increase of 5.84 per cent, while Rs 11,573 crore (Rs 115.73 billion) came from passenger traffic, which also went up 7.61 per cent, a railway ministry official said.

Revenue earnings from other sources amounted to Rs 1,115 crore (Rs 11.15 billion) during this period as compared to Rs 956 crore (Rs 9.56 billion) during the same period last year, reflecting an increase of 16.60 per cent.

The total number of passengers who bought tickets during the period was 3685.03 million, up from 3526.31 million -- an increase of 4.50 per cent.

In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the number of passengers who bought tickets were was 1888.51 million and 1796.52 million respectively.