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New Delhi, Dec. 19 Increase in freight charges for several commodities effective October has helped Railways register almost 11 per cent annual growth in freight revenues for the eight-month period this fiscal despite a relatively lower growth (8 per cent) in loadings.

The growth in net tonne kilo metres (NTKM) — another performance parameter which reflects the combined change in loadings and distance — was still lower for the period at 5.44 per cent (from 3,04,871 million during April-November 2006 to 3,21,460 million in April-November 2007).

The Railways has generated Rs 29,416.42-crore revenues from freight traffic during the first eight months (April-November 2007) of the current financial year registering an increase of 10.99 per cent againstRs 26,502.79 crore during the corresponding period last year, stated an official release.

It carried 501.38 million tonnes (mt) of freight traffic during April-November 2007 compared with 464.39 mt last year, reflecting an increase of 7.97 per cent.

The earnings from freight traffic last month were Rs 3,992.83 crore, up 10.67 per cent, from Rs 3,607.85 crore in November last year. Loadings for the month witnessed a 7.55 per cent rise with the Railways carrying 65.67 mt of freight traffic (61.06 mt). NTKM went up by 6.11 per cent to 42,093 million from 39,670 million, the release said.

It further added that of the total earnings in November 2007, Rs 1,515.15 crore came from transportation of 28.35 mt coal, followed by Rs 629.86 crore from 11.78 mt iron ore, Rs 331.27 crore from 6.49 mt cement, Rs 245.05 crore from 2.89 mt petroleum, oil and lubricant (POL), Rs 244.58 crore from 2.51 mt foodgrains, Rs 241.67 crore from 2.16 mt iron & finished steel, Rs 231.11 crore from 3.4 mt fertilisers, Rs 69.37 crore from 0.91 mt raw material for steel plants (except iron ore) and Rs 484.77 crore from 7.18 mt of other goods.

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