The sharp rise in steel and iron ore freight has enabled Indian government owned and operated Indian Railway (IR) to record a five percent jump in aggregate freight loading during the April-August period of the current financial year 2017-18, according to data released by the IR on Friday, September 15.
According to IR, total steel freight handled during the April-August period was recorded at 22.62 million mt, up 22.27 percent over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
Iron ore freight handled during the first five months of the current fiscal year amounted to 59.23 million mt, up 13 percent over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
The contribution of steel and iron ore freight towards the increase in total freight handled by IR during the period was significant as it came at a time when coal freight recorded a fall of 0.3 percent year on year 215 million mt owing to slowdown in coal imports, an IR official said.