Title - South Western Rly freight traffic up 9% in H1

Following a ban on iron ore exports and restrictions on mining in Karnataka, South Western Railway (SWR) has replaced iron ore with coal, cement and steel.“By replacing iron ore, our freight traffic at the end of first six months (April-September) has grown by 9 per cent to 17.25 million tonnes, against 15.86 million tonnes carried during the corresponding period of last year,” said General Manager Ashok Kumar Mital.Mital said South Western’s originating gross earnings up to end of September have also increased to Rs 2,072.12 crore from Rs 1,734.27 croreprevious year.The Railway carried 3 per cent more passengers at 95.17 million (92.46 million) up to September.The originating passenger earnings up to September increased by 9.74 per cent to Rs 558.36 crore (Rs 612.75 crore).At the 13th Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committee meet held here, Mital said that the mail/express trains and passenger trains were 95 per cent and 97 per cent punctual, respectively, up to September.He said that out of six new trains for South Western Railway announced in the Budget 2012, three had been introduced: Yesvantpur-Puri Garib Rath Weekly Express, Mysore-Sainagar Shirdi Weekly Express (via Bangalore, Dharamavaram, Bellary), and Solapur-Yesvantpur Tri-Weekly Express (via Gulbarga). Mital said, “Seven trains’ frequencies have been increased ranging from two days to seven days. During the current fiscal, this railway has run 2,211 special trains and attached 3,071 extra coaches to clear the wait-list passengers.”On railway infrastructure, Mital said “During the current financial year, 41.5 km of new railway lines, 27 km of gauge conversion and 44 km of doublings are targeted for completion.”