Despite the COVID-19 setback, South Western Railway has registered the highest-ever gross originating revenue of ₹6,214 crore, with its originating freight revenue crossed the ₹4,000 crore mark in the just concluded financial year.
This is the highest revenue recorded by the railway zone ever since it came into existence.
Addressing presspersons along with Additional General Manager P.K. Mishra, General Manager of South Western Railway Sanjeev Kishore said that the zone has recorded originating freight earning of ₹4,160 crore, which was 27.34% more than that of the last year (₹3,266 crore).
“We have also registered the highest-ever capital expenditure of ₹5,560 crore, which is 20.86% more than the previous year’s, the highest-ever parcel revenue of ₹122.18 crore and the highest-ever scrap sales of ₹138.04 crore. With 94.26% punctuality in train operations, the zone stands fourth among all the railway zones,” he said.
Mr. Mishra said that despite the restrictions and slow down due to the pandemic, the railway zone has been able to achieve a record growth on all fronts and in the coming years, it will further improve its performance.
Mr. Sanjeev Kishore said that in freight loading, the railway zone has crossed the 44 million tonne mark for the second time in the last 14 years loading 44.42 million tonnes of freight during 2021-22.
Track doubling
To a query, Mr. Sanjeev Kishore said that track doubling is pending for just over 45 km on the Hubballi-Bengaluru section and the plan is to complete work by December 2022 and commission it by March 2023.
“Once the second track is commissioned, the travel time is likely to be reduced by 45 minutes between Hubballi and Bengaluru. Once the track doubling is completed, it will take another two or three months to complete electrification,” he said.
Fuel price impact
To another query, he said that the rising fuel prices have made considerable impact on the revenue of the railway zone just as it has affected other sectors also. Compared to high speed diesel, electrification works out much economical and the zone will expedite works on electrification of railway lines.
“As of now, a little less than 50% of the railway tracks on the South Western Railway network are electrified. The plan is to complete electrification of the railway tracks on the entire zone by end of 2023 or in 2024. As driving electric trains requires specialised training, a continuous training process has been set in place. As of now, around 25% of loco pilots have completed training,” he said.
Progress
Replying to queries on new railway lines, he said that they are hoping to get 50% of land for the Davangere-Shikaripur-Shivamogga route in the current fiscal. They have submitted land requirement proposal to the State Government for the Dharwad-Kittur-Belagavi new line which required 335 hectares. The first tender for the Davangere-Chitradurga-Tumakuru railway line is in the process of execution, he said.
Mr. Sanjeev Kishore said that South Western Railway is in the process of upgrading its three railway hospitals and is also constructing additional goods sheds. Already, all unmanned level crossings in the railway zone have been removed and efforts are on to do away with manned level crossings by constructing overbridges and underbridges with the help of the State Government.
Tree plantation
Mr. Mishra said that South Western Railway is looking for partners to increase green cover on railway property and it is open to taking up tree plantation drives in association with interested organisations. Solar power is being generated at railway stations and railway offices. This apart, rainwater harvesting is being done effectively, he said.
Principal Financial Advisor P.V. Leela, Chief Public Relations Officer Aneesh Hegde and other officials were present.
