GUWAHATI, May 8 - Healthy growth in the revenue in both the passenger and the goods segments resulted in an increase in the overall earnings of the Maligaon-headquartered Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) during the 2018-19 financial year.
This came about even though the Zone registered marginal falls in its earnings from the �sundry� and the �other coaching� segments.
In the April 2018-March 2019 period, NFR�s total approximate gross earnings on originating basis stood at Rs 3,322.11 crore compared to Rs 3,120.06 crore in 2017-18, registering an annual growth of 6.48 per cent.
The major boost came from earnings in the passenger segment.
Passenger earnings jumped by 11.11 per cent annually to Rs 1,664.75 crore in the last fiscal as compared to Rs 1,498.24 crore in 2017-18.
Similarly, the goods earnings on originating basis of NFR went up by 3.25 per cent to Rs 1,298.97 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2019, as against Rs 1,258.03 crore in the previous fiscal.
However, earnings from �other coaching� went down a bit, falling by 1.28 per cent, year-on-year in 2018-19 to Rs 239.78 crore compared to Rs 242.89 crore in the previous financial year.
Likewise, sundry earnings turned out to be a weak spot for NFR in the last fiscal.
Sundry earnings registered a decline of over 1.89 per cent and stood at a mere Rs 118.61 crore in 2018-19 as against Rs 120.90 crore in 2017-18.
The total approximate number of passengers booked by the NFR during the 2018-19 fiscal went up by 7.73 per cent on an annual basis to 110.32 million from a figure of 102.40 million in April 2017-March 2018 period.
NFR sources said that expansion of the railway network to newer and far-flung places in the region, besides development of infrastructure, helped boost the finances of the Zone.
Sources added that with the inauguration of the long-delayed Bogibeel Bridge project during the last fiscal year and ongoing activities for electrification and doubling of the railway network, the earnings are expected to go up in both the passenger and goods segments in the days to come.
Meanwhile, the total approximate gross earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis also registered a healthy double growth on an annual basis and stood at over Rs 1,91,939 crore in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019.
