Guntur Division surpasses Previous financial year (2019-20) Freight loading

– 1.56 Million Tonnes freight loading registered in the current financial year up to 12th Nov 2020 which is double than the previous year same period

Freight loading in Guntur Division of South Central Railway has registered a robust increase in the current financial year till 12th November 2020 with the consistent efforts of the railway officials & newly formed BDU team of Guntur Division and the support & valuable guidance extended by Shri Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, SCR. The Division has registered freight loading to the tune of 1.56 Million Tonnes which is a 102% increase when compared with the same period in the previous financial year, which is 0.77 Million tonnes o­nly. The division also surpassed the previous year’s Total Freight Loading of 1.551 Million Tonnes.

Indian Railways has focussed o­n freight loading with the reduction in the operation of passenger train services in the current financial year. Accordingly, various freight concessions and incentive schemes are being announced by the Ministry of Railways for the benefit of freight customers. In addition, the Business Development Units as envisaged by Railway Board to assist the freight customers in easing their hardships and also to concentrate o­n attracting new traffic and enhancing the existing loading so as to increase Railways share in the transport sector are also yielding good results. The major factors contributed to achieving the highest freight loading in the current financial year by Guntur Division are –

· The Foodgrains loading has been registered as 0.726 Million tonnes which is almost 300% more than the previous year (0.178 MTs). The division has significantly contributed to Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan Yojana by transporting FCI Rice to Tamilnadu, Kerala, and West Bengal during the Covid-19 pandemic times. During the current year, 5.3 lakh tons of Rice has been loaded additionally over the last year.

· Clinker loading to the tune of 0.398 MTs has been done by the division which is 203 % more than the previous year (0.129 MTs).

· Containers traffic to the tune of 0.117 MTs has been registered by the division which is 66 % more than the previous year (0.070 MTS).

· A new stream of export traffic of Dry Chillies to Bangladesh has been started from the division and run the first Indian Railways’ International Time Tabled Parcel Cargo Exp from Reddipalem to Bangladesh. So far, 12 freight rakes and 11 parcel rakes of dry chilies have been dispatched to Bangladesh.

· A new Greenfield Private Freight Terminal served by Nagireddypalli station has been commissioned in the month of May 2020 with a view to ensuring essential supplies of food grains. So far, 51 rakes of food grains have been loaded from this terminal.

· 12 rakes of Maize have been loaded from Nandyal, Nadikude and Reddipalem stations.

Shri Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, South Central Railway appreciated the efforts of the Railway Officials of Guntur Division in enhancing freight loading to new heights. He advised the officials to continue the same pace till the end of the financial year to record the best figures in freight loading.