Railways ferries 124-mt freight, clocks 5% rise since last year

The Indian Railways, which was witnessing freight growth upwards of 8-9 per cent every month this financial year (2022-23, or FY23), saw its second consecutive month of tepid growth in November.

- DHRUVAKSH SAHA

The national transporter carried 123.9 million tonnes (mt) of goods during the month, registering a 5 per cent increase against last year, according to the provisional data furnished by the Ministry of Railways.

"On a cumulative basis from AprilNovember, freight loading of 978.72 mt was achieved against last year's loading of 903.16 mt during the same period an improvement of 8 per cent. The Railways has earned ₹1.05 trillion, against ₹91,127 crore over the past year an improvement of 16 per cent, compared with the same period of last year," said the ministry.

In October, freight loading by the national transporter grew at a meagre 1 per cent, owing to slowdowns in some of the biggest items in its basket - coal, iron ore, and containers.

Commodity-wise data for November has not been made available yet.