The Vijayawada Division of South Central Railways has clocked 16.95 per cent growth in freight earnings at Rs 1,706 core, in tune with the trend of the entire zone last fiscal.

This division forms an important part of the SC Railways as it handles the entire cargo throughput of the Krishnapatnam and Kakinada private ports, besides a portion of the cargo from the neighbouring Visakhapatnam and Gangavaram ports.

With Krishnapatnam and Kakinada ports handling increased quantity of coal and fertiliser cargoes, this reflected on the freight earnings of the Vijayawada Division. In terms of throughput, its freight loading peaked to 24.8 million tonnes, an increase of 17.3 per cent.

The gross earnings of the division registered a growth of 14.34 per cent, touching Rs 22,291.19 crore. The performance efficiency index, a measure of expenditure over income, touched 51 per cent — that is, for every Rs 100 earned, only Rs 51 was spent on administrative expenditure and the balance added to internal generation of resources.

On the passenger front, the division notched up a growth of 6.67 per cent to touch Rs 501 crore — it handled 98.40 million passengers, up by 4.23 per cent.

“The Vijayawada station is being remodelled at a cost of Rs 52.86 crore so as to put reception and dispatch of trains on the fast track,” an official of the division said.

amitmitra@thehindu.co.in

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