The financial year 2022-23 has been excellent for Indian Railways in every respect. Indian Railways earned a total revenue of one lakh 91 thousand 128 crores till January in the financial year 2022-23.
This is Rs 42,370 crore more till January than the revenue received in the financial year 2021-22. Railway’s revenue from freight has increased by 27.75 percent in the year 2022-23 as compared to 2021-22. Railways achieved a revenue of Rs 2.44 lakh crore during the financial year 2022-23.
Due to the increase in the income of the railways, it is now expected that the railways will soon start returning the concession given to the senior citizens. This exemption was discontinued during the Corona period.
Explain that in view of the poor financial condition during the Covid epidemic, the Railways had stopped concession in fares for all except three categories, including senior citizens. Before the Corona epidemic, citizens above 60 years of age were entitled to a 50 percent discount on fares.
While the common citizen is demanding restoration of the exemption given to senior citizens, a parliamentary panel has also recommended restoration of exemption on railway tickets to senior citizens.
Freight earns more
The major part of Indian Railways’ earnings comes from freight transportation. According to the report of India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), every year Railways earns only 20% from passengers. In the financial year 2021-22, the share of passenger fare in the total earnings of Railways has been 20.2 percent. The share of freight in revenue is 75.2 percent. If seen in this way, 95.4 percent of the earnings come from these two sections. The remaining 4.6 per cent revenue comes from other sources, including the sale of scrap.
Tremendous earnings of Southern Railway
In the financial year 2022-23, the revenue of Southern Railway increased by 80 percent to reach Rs 6,345 crore. Earlier in 2019-20, Southern Railway had earned a revenue of Rs 5,225 crore. In the last financial year, 64 crore passengers traveled in Southern Railway trains. This number is 88.5 percent more than the year 2021-22.
If we talk about overall railways, Indian Railways has carried 1512 metric tonnes of freight in the last financial year. This is the highest ever freight traffic done by Indian Railways in a single financial year.
