The Hindu : Front Page : Madurai Division of Southern Railway records an impressive growth

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 13, 2007
ePaper

Front Page

Front Page

Madurai Division of Southern Railway records an impressive growth

S. Vijay Kumar

"The overall earnings crossed the Rs. 250-crore mark in December 2006"

MADURAI : The Madurai Division of the Southern Railway has performed well on the earnings front in 2006 by recording an impressive growth of 31.2 per cent. If the freight earnings went up by 50 per cent, passenger earnings recorded an increase of 19.4 per cent.

Talking to The Hindu here on Friday, the Additional Divisional Railway Manager, M. Suyambulingam, said the number of passengers increased from 17.9 crore in 2005 (April-December) to 19.1 crore the next year.

"The overall earnings crossed the Rs. 250-crore mark in December. Besides enhanced loading at the Tuticorin port, migration of passengers from road transport to rail traffic, introduction of new trains and operation of festival specials were some of the reasons for the growth. We remain the cheapest mode of transport," he said.

Mr. Suyambulingam said the performance of the division covering 13 districts, including two in Kerala, was good despite closure of some sections for broad gauge conversion. At least 165 km of track was closed to facilitate ongoing projects.

While the Tiruchi-Pudukottai line was opened to traffic recently, the Manamadurai-Mandapam section was targeted for completion in March. The Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur and Tenkasi-Shencottah gauge conversion works were under various stages of completion, he said. The Madurai-Dindigul gauge conversion work was progressing well and announcement on the budget allocation and target for completion was expected soon. The patronage on the Madurai-Tenkasi route was encouraging. The Tenkasi-Chennai Egmore `Pothigai' (tri-weekly) Express was running full and it was likely that it would be made a daily train, railway officials said.

The Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Alexander Gnanaolivu, said the Tirunelveli-Madurai-Chennai Egmore sector was the most profitable route. Inward and outward movement of fertilizer, coal and imported wheat augmented the freight revenue.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page