Kolkata, Mar 6 (FN Agency) South Eastern Railway has reported 12 per cent growth in freight loading by ferrying 176.45 million tonnes during April to February, 2021-22 and surpassed the last financial year’s 175.8 mt, exactly 31 days before the closure of the current fiscal.Till February of the current fiscal, an overall growth of 12 percent has been achieved in freight loading compared to last financial year’s loading of 157.58 mt during thecorresponding period, official source said.SER has loaded 37.7 mt of coal up to February 2022, and contributed to uninterrupted supply of coal to the power plants.
A remarkable surge of 47 pc has been achieved in coal loading compared to last year’s loading of 25.65 million tonnes for the same period. The impact of increased price and diminished demand of Iron Ore in the international market has caused a retreat in iron ore loading since August, 2021,yet the SER has given a steady performance with 97.6 mt of iron ore loading which was 2.83 pc higher than last year’s loading of 94.91 mt.SER has shown a remarkable growth of 13.04 pc in Steel loading with 17.51 mt upto February, 2022 whereas 15.49 mt steel was loaded up to February, 2021during last financial year. About 9.38 pc growth has been achieved in cement loading over last year. SER has successfully managed to transport 12 mt of cement up to February 2022, which was 10.97 mt for the corresponding period of last year. The setting up of Business Development Unit (BDU) at headquarters and divisions has proved to be a major factor to boost freight loading,Besides the customer friendly steps like regular interaction with the clients, concession in freight rate and introduction of gainful incentive schemes have helped to bring in new traffic and increase the volume of existing traffic. SER also played a pivotal role in transportation of Oxygen from the plants to different parts of the country in the current financial year. During the second wave of COVID-19, altogether 281 rakes carrying 1375 Oxygen Tankers (23,334.65 tonnes) were loaded in SER’s jurisdiction and transported to various parts of the country.