The Palakkad division of the Southern Railways has recorded a 44 per cent growth in total earnings during the current fiscal.
A press release from the Palakkad division said here on Saturday that Piyush Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, highlighted the major achievements of the Palakkad division from April to the third week of January after unfurling the national flag at the Republic Day celebrations in Palakkad on Saturday.
The total earnings of the Palakkad division stood at Rs 698 crore till the third week of January of fiscal 2012-13. This was 44 per cent higher than the earnings during the corresponding period of the previous year.
The earning from freight went up by 128 per cent and from the passenger segment by 11.40 per cent. The release said 6.67 crore passengers were carried during the year, a growth of 2.42 per cent over the previous year. During November, the division recorded the highest ever originating loading of 0.761 million tonnes.
The speed of 39 express and 14 passenger trains was increased, and 595 special trains operated. Palakkad division achieved overall punctuality of 95.7 per cent for mail and express trains and 95.9 per cent for passenger trains during the year, it said.
Automatic ticket vending machines have been installed at Palakkad, Shoranur, Kozhikode, Thalassery and Kannur railway stations. This would help in reducing the long queues for purchase of tickets, the release added.