Visakhapatnam: Waltair division posts 11.28 per cent growth ahead of bifurcation
Visakhapatnam: Waltair Division under East Coast Railway has achieved 11.28 per cent growth, with the total revenue at Rs 7,957.39 crore in financial year 2018-19, as compared to Rs 7,150.68 crore during the previous fiscal.
At the same time, it has curtailed the expenditures also.
During the review period, the division reported 9.53 per cent rise in goods traffic by loading 61.93 million tonnes, fetching Rs 7,303.52 crore revenue, which is an all-time record. Last year, it made Rs 6,515.25 crore by loading 56.54 million tonnes.
Passenger traffic also increased by 3.76 per cent at 36.38 million in 2018-19 against the 35.06 million in the previous fiscal. This has resulted in earnings of Rs 555.06 crore to the division which is 6.98 per cent higher than Rs 518.86 crore in last financial year.
Announcing the revenue highlights on Monday, divisional railway manager Mukul Saran Mathur said that revenue generated from the division goes to contingent fund of Indian Railways. The funds will be allocated based on the need for infrastructure in the division.
He reiterated that budgetary allocations are not based on the revenue potential of a railway division as some politicians have raised concerns about the delinking of the freight-earning railway lines with the split of Waltair division to form South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone.
The 125-year-old division is being divided into two parts. A part of Waltair division will be merged in Vijayawada division while the other part will go to the proposed Rayagada division. A group of politicians considered this as a huge loss.
The DRM informed that they have been improving the passenger amenities in the division. Circulating area at Srikakulam stations were provided 8,000 sqm of BT surface. Paperless unreserved ticketing app – UTSonMobile — for mobiles was introduced to book unreserved tickets.
Five Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendras were commissioned over the division at Pedda Waltair, MVP Colony, Parlakhemundi, Rayagada and Jeypore. Unreserved ticketing system was launched at Tilaru, Chipurupalle, Paravatipuram, Parlakhemundi and Gunupur.
Nine additional automatic ticket vending machines were also started -- six at Vizag railway station, two at Vizianagaram and one at Chipurupalle.
