Kochi: Reversing the trend of falling revenues of the past several years, the Thiruvananthapuram division of the Indian Railways succeeded in earning record revenues of Rs 319 crore in the just concluded financial year (2013-14) through operations connected with the Cochin Port.
The implications of the five per cent increase in goods revenue earnings over the last year (FY 2012-13) are much bigger. For, the Railways has been forced to rethink its earlier decision to close down the Ernakulam goods marshalling yard. “The prospects are now much better compared to previous years. We have just bagged a lucrative deal to transport 55,000 tonnes of imported coal being shipped from Indonesia to the Piravom-based Hindustan Newsprint Ltd.
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) too has plans to bring in wheat from Madhya Pradesh via rail,”said Area Manager P L Ashok Kumar. In the last financial year, the Railways had invested crores of rupees in a new bridge at Tevara and to revamp connectivity to the Q-9 berth of Cochin Port from the Halt station.
However, it received a major set back when a lucrative deal to transport its largest freight consignment in recent times —iron ore sourced from the Jindal group of companies in Orissa - proved a non-starter. Moreover, it was overlooked by the Food Corporation of India in an ambitious project to import rice from Kakkinada in Andhra Pradesh and distribute it across the state.
“The goods movement from the Vallarpadam International Container Terminal too has improved, said Mr Kumar. “Only two trains operated in the first three phases of FY 2012-13, but we are able to operate eight to ten goods trains monthly on an average in the just concluded financial year,” he added.
