Covid-19 impact: Western Railway takes ₹716.59 crore hit due to lockdown

Indian Railways' Western Railway zone had to incur a loss of ₹716.59 crore during the ongoing lockdown to contain the spread of covid-19. The nationwide lockdown which started on March 25 and extended till May 17 has resulted in Indian Railways stopping its passenger operations across the country.

A senior railway official said," On account of lockdown and subsequent cancellation of train services (inclusive of suburban + non-suburban) Western Railway had to incur a total loss of 716.59 crore".

The railway official further added that Western Railway has refunded an amount of ₹237.64 crore out of which Mumbai division alone, refunded an amount of ₹114.85 crore. Till now, 37.18 lakh passengers have cancelled their tickets over entire Western Railway & have received their refund amount

During the crisis due to coronavirus & subsequent nation wide lockdown period, Indian Railways' Western Railway zone is that there is no break in supply of essential commodities and hence its parcel special trains are traversing across the country. Since the time of lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Western Railway has run various parcel special trains to different parts of the country.

Western Railway, during the lockdown period from 22nd March to 4th May, 2020, total 3017 rakes of goods trains have been used to supply essential commodities amounting to 6.60 million tonnes. 6214 freight trains were interchanged with other railways, including 3130 trains handed over and 3084 trains taken over at different interchange points. 160 Millennium Parcel rakes of Parcel Vans/Railway Milk Tankers (RMTs) have been sent to different parts of the country to cope with the demands of essential items such as milk powder, liquid milk , medical supplies and other general consumer goods.

Since 23 March to 4 May 2020, commodities weighing approx 25000 tonnes have been transported by Western Railway through its various parcel special trains, which included agricultural produce, medicines, fish, milk etc. The earnings generated through this transportation, has been approx ₹7.48 crore.

In this, twenty one milk special trains were run by Western Rly, with a load of more than 15000 tonnes and 100% utilization of the wagons, generating revenue of approx ₹2.62 crore. Similarly, 133 Covid-19 special parcel trains were also run to transport essential commodities, for which the revenue earned was approx ₹4.09 crore. In addition to this, 4 indented rakes were also run with 100% utilization for earnings of approximately 78 lakh.