Back New Mangalore Port Trust posts 124% growth in rail cargo
| Total cargo handled goes up 16% |
Boom in rail cargo: Cargo operations are in progress at the railway marshalling yard near New Mangalore Port.
Our Bureau
Mangalore, Aug.24 The New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) has posted 124 per cent growth in handling Railway-bound cargo during the current fiscal (till August 24), while total cargo handled also grew 15.90 per cent.
The port handled 1.95 million tonnes of Railway traffic till Friday against 0.8 million tonnes during the corresponding previous period.
Mr P. Tamilvanan, Chairman of NMPT, attributed the growth in Railway cargo to factors such as addition of various facilities at the port and the commissioning of the Hassan-Mangalore Railway line for freight traffic and the subsequent reduction of freight charges to various hinterland destinations.
Travel time
The travel distance between Hassan and Mangalore has come down to 260 km after the commissioning of the Railway line for freight traffic on May 5, 2006.
This has helped in bringing down the freight charges from Rs 727 a tonne to Rs 229.
The freight charges for Davangere is now Rs 349 (Rs 595), Hospet Rs 487 (Rs 595), Shimoga Rs 316 (Rs 710) and Mysore Rs 290 (Rs 677).
Added to this, the port took steps to renovate all the five Railway lines at the marshalling yard, and laid platforms and installed high-power tower lights.
Kudremukh Iron Ore Company also added four Railway lines at the marshalling yard.
These factors helped in the smooth handling of Railway traffic at the port, leading to an impressive growth in this segment.
TOTAL TRAFFIC
The port handled a total traffic of 14.14 million tonnes during the period (12.20 million tonnes), recording a growth of 15.90 per cent.
The container traffic increased to 7,550 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) during the period against 5,703 TEUs in the corresponding previous period, showing a growth of 32.38 per cent.
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