Kottayam: The Indian Railways gained better revenue through goods transportation even during Covid crisis. The statistics showed 1232.63 million tonnes of goods transported through train in the financial year 2020-21. This was only 1209.32 million tonnes in 2019-20.

The revenue earned through goods transportation in 2020-21 was Rs 1,17,386 while this was Rs 1,13,897 in the previous FY. There was continuous increase in freight movement during the months from September 2020 to March 2021. Coal, iron ore, food grains, fertilizers and cement were mainly transported.

The Railway had announced special discounts in order to promote freight movement through trains during the Covid season. The speed of goods trains could be doubled in comparison to previous year. It is assumed that the trains gained a speed of 44 kilometres. Currently, the speed of goods train is 25 kilometres on an average.

The Freight Operations Information System implemented by the Railway also helped improve the goods movement through trains. The railway board intends to increase goods transportation to 2024 million tonnes per year within next 3 years. They have formed a scheme named ‘Vision 2024’ for this.