Indian Railways freight loading in December 2020 registered an 8.56 per cent growth as compared to figures recorded in the same month of 2019. According to a statement released by the Railway Ministry, Indian Railways freight loading was 118.13 million tonnes last month, which is 8.54 per cent higher as compared to 108.84 million tonnes loaded in 2019 for the same month. Indian Railways authorities earned Rs 11788.11 crores from the freight loading which is also ₹ 757.74 crores, almost 6.87 per cent higher as compared to earnings in the same month of 2019, which was reported at ₹ 11030.37 crore.

With these figures, Indian Railways freight loading for the month of December 2020 breached the loading figures and earnings registered during the same month in 2019. The total freight loading of 118.13 million tonnes registered last month, included 50.67 million tonnes of coal,  6.13 million tonnes of foodgrains, 15.31 million tonnes of iron ore,  4.3 million tonnes of mineral oil, 5.23 million tonnes of fertilizers, and 7.46 million tonnes of cement (excluding clinker).

Meanwhile, recently, the first fully operational section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor’s (EDFC) Bhaupur – Khurja section was inaugurated on December 29, where Indian Railways’ indigenous Alstom’s WAG 12 e-locomotive was flagged off for the opening run on the freight corridor. The section has a 351 km long track and has been built at a cost of ₹ 5750 crore. The Bhaupur – Khurja section will increase the speed of goods trains and decongest the Kanpur-Delhi rail line.

Along with the freight corridor, an operation control centre situated at Prayagraj was also inaugurated, which will be the nerve-center of the entire eastern dedicated freight corridor project. It is one of the world’s largest centres for railways and is built by multinational rolling stock manufacturer Alstom.