Railways register 12 per cent growth in freight

The total loading in August was 72.9 million tonnes as against 65.27 million tonnes the corresponding period last year, according to a tentative loading data available with railways.

"The growth in August this year in comparison to  last year was about 11.67 per cent. The final data will be compiled by next week," said a senior Railway Ministry official.

In July, railways had registered 5.83 per cent increase in goods loadings.

Freight loading is witnessing an upward trend due to the surge in demand for coal, cement, steel, foodgrains and petroleum products, he said.

The growth in loading has been recorded in coal (16.5 per cent), cement and steel (15 per cent), foodgrains (11 per cent) and petroleum products (14 per cent). However, there is a negative growth of five per cent in fertiliser loading.

Railways have undertaken steps to attract bulk traffic by offering incentives. The freight loading target has been fixed at 882 million tonnes (MT) for 2009-10, an increase of 49 MT over 2008-09.