Rail stocks rally on hike in passenger fares, freight rates

Shares of companies engaged in railways-related businesses today rallied on the back of a hike in passenger fares and freight rates to improve the finances of Indian Railways.

Cash-strapped railways has increased the passenger fares by over 14 per cent and freight charges by over 6 per cent and the move is expected to result in additional revenue mop-up of Rs 8,000 crore. The hike would come into effect from June 25.

Reacting to the development, shares of

Kalindee Rail Nirman rose about 2 per cent to Rs 121.75, Texmaco Infrastructure 3 per cent to Rs 39.65 and Texmaco Rail Engineers jumed over 3 per cent at to Rs 121 in the morning trade on the BSE.

Titagarh Wagons also gained over 2 per cent to Rs 320.25, while Simplex Castings rallied nearly 5 per cent to Rs 53.3 and Container Corporation of India rose nearly 2 per cent to Rs 1,179.95.

The rail stocks have also been in focus in recent days on expectations of FDI being allowed in certain railways-related businesses.

The gains seen today in rail stocks were in sharp contrast to the overall sluggishness in the market. The benchmark index Sensex was down 72 points at 25,033.48 in late morning trade.