South Eastern Railway's freight earnings back on track: Official

The South Eastern Railway, which saw a huge drop in freight earnings in the initial lockdown period, has recovered well with the August revenue from goods movement surpassing that of the corresponding month a year ago, its general manager Sanjay Kumar Mohanty said on Friday.

The South Eastern Railway, which saw a huge drop in freight earnings in the initial lockdown period, has recovered well with the August revenue from goods movement surpassing that of the corresponding month a year ago, its general manager Sanjay Kumar Mohanty said on Friday. With a 34 per cent dip in freight earnings in April, the operating ratio of SER rose to 178 per cent in that month, but by the end of August, it has come down to 98 per cent, he said.

The operating ratio in 2019-20 was a "very healthy" 64 per cent, Mohanty said at a virtual press conference. He said the first-quarter loading of freight was less by 23.8 per cent over that of the April to June period in 2019-20.

"However, in July 2020, the loading bounced back and was same as of July 2019 and in August this year, loading performance surpassed that of the corresponding period last year by 8.72 per cent," Mohanty said. The official said average speed of freight trains have more than doubled from 21 km per hour in August 2019 to 44.44 kmph in the same month this year.

As part of COVID-19 treatment, four hospitals have been earmarked in SER at Adra, Chakradharpur, Kharagpur and Ranchi with a total capacity of 282 isolation beds. "Till August, 770 COVID-19 patients have been treated by the Railway medical team," he added.