Bhubaneswar: East Coast Railway has shattered all records of Indian Railways in Freight Loading in the Financial Year 2020-21. From 1st April, 2020 to 31st March, 2021, the zone loaded 205 million tons of freight shattering the earlier record of highest Freight Loading that was held by erstwhile undivided South Eastern Railway in the year 2002-03 when it loaded 202.56 MT.
By this, ECoR became the 1st Zone to cross the milestone of 200 million tonne of loading for 2 times in a row. It also broke its own record of 200.95 MT of freight Loading achieved last financial year 2019-20. The target set by the Board for the financial year for ECoR was actually 203.02 MT, which the zone has clearly surpassed.
The three divisions of the ECoR have contributed greatly to the stupendous feat achieved by it. Khurda Road division has bettered its target of 127.02 MT by achieving 131.37 MT. Khurda Road and Waltair divison have obtained 4th and 6th position respectively in Indian Railways among all zones in freight loading. Sambalpur division has bettered its last year loading of 11.48 MT by loading 12.37 MT of freight this financial.
To achieve this loading figure, East Coast Railway has utilized 8447 Wagons per day during the period, i.e. about 154.8 Rakes/Trains per day. During the period, South East Central Railway (SECR) has loaded 186.51 million tonne of freight and South Eastern Railway (SER) has loaded 175.79 million tonne of freight and became the second and third highest loading zonal Railway, respectively.
During the financial year 2020-21, Indian Railways has loaded 1232.64 million tonne of freight registering a growth of 23.32 million tonne more than the previous financial year. In 2019-20 Indian Railways has loaded 1209.32 million tonne of freight traffic. It is mentioned here that, East Coast Railway has loaded 16.62% share of total loading by Indian Railways.
This remarkable loading has been achieved despite lockdown and closure & less workforce in industries and in mineral units under East Coast Railway jurisdiction. To achieve this remarkable performance, East Coast Railway has utilized its manpower and rolling stock items in best possible way and with proper planning and coordination with Govt Sectors and Industries.
The zone which is under the stewardship of its General Manager Vidya Bhushan, has begun thinking to make the impossible possible. The General Manager has been encouraging and motivating its workforce right from day one. Right thinking with a positive attitude and continuous hard work has been the hallmark of this zone. The operations department and all contributing departments have been phenomenal and have contributed their bits to their best possible extent. Business Development Units of East Coast Railway has been the bulwark in attracting new avenues of load and in modal transit from road to rail.
