Fright Earnings

Indian Railways generated revenue earnings of Rs 57594.61 crore from freight traffic during the financial year 2009-10, which ended on March 31, as compared to Rs 53137.60 crore in the previous year, registering an increase of 8.39 per cent.
An official press release said the Railways carried 887.99 million tonnes of freight traffic in the year to March 2010 as compared to 833.31 million tonnes carried during the previous financial year, an increase of 6.56 per cent.
It said the net tonne kilometres (NTKM) went up from 538226 million during April 2008-March 2009 to 584760 million during April 2009-March 2010, showing an increase of 8.65 per cent.
According to the release, out of the total earnings from freight traffic during 2009-10, Rs. 22366.69 crore came from transportation of 396.10 million tonnes of coal, followed by Rs. 8350.77 crore from 132.72 million tonnes of iron ore for exports, steel plants and for other domestic user, Rs. 5282.55 crore from 93.15 million tonnes of cement, and Rs. 3972.39 crore from 37.52 million tonnes of foodgrains.
The Railways also earning Rs. 3319.63 crore from transportation of 39.49 million tonnes of petroleum oil and lubricant (POL), Rs. 3336.19 crore from 30.93 million tonnes of pig iron and finished steel from steel plants and other points, Rs. 3174.51 crore from 43.58 million tonnes of fertilizers, Rs. 2772.43 crore from 34.36 million tonnes by container service, Rs. 883.46 crore from 11.58 million tonnes of raw material for steel plants except iron ore, and Rs. 4135.99 crore from 68.56 million tonnes of other goods, the release added.