A reply to an RTI query, which was filed by an activist based out of Madhya Pradesh, Chandra Shekhar Gaur, revealed that in the first quarter of the financial year 2019-20, i.e., the period from April to June, the national transporter earned a revenue of Rs 13,398.92 crore from its passenger fares. The earnings went down to Rs 13,243.81 crore in the second quarter from July to September, and it went down further to an amount of Rs 12844.37 crore in the third quarter, the period between the months of October and December.
However, in freight loading, Indian Railways seems to have made a robust recovery in the third quarter of the year. In the first quarter, Railways earned Rs 29,066.92 crore freight loading. In the second quarter, the earnings from freight reduced to Rs 25,165.13 crore. However, the national transporter made a significant recovery in the third quarter by earning Rs 28,032.80 crore.
In a bid to counter the slowdown in its freight loading, Indian Railways has initiated a slew of measures. Recently, the national transporter waived its busy season surcharge on freight traffic, launched a scheme offering up to 25% concession on trains with AC chair car as well as executive class sitting.