Railways daily loss: 40 rake loading, Rs 14.85 crore

Tribune News Service

Moga, November 20

The suspension of train services in Punjab due to farmers’ protest against the Central farm laws has led to a loss of Rs 2,220 crore to the Indian Railways during the past 55 days.

According to data released by the Railways today, the goods segment was suffering a loss of 40 rake loading per day due to the ongoing agitation and the Northern Railway was losing revenue of Rs 14.85 crore per day on originating earnings.

The total revenue loss on goods segment till November 19 was to the tune of Rs 825 crore. In the passenger segment, the revenue loss due to the cancellation of passenger trains is Rs 67 crore, taking the overall loss to Rs 891 crore for the Northern Railway. The total earning loss for the Indian Railways comes to the tune of Rs 2,220 crore.

The state’s economy too has also been adversely affected by by the ongoing farmers’ agitation, especially the “rail roko” stir. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has stated that industries in Ludhiana and Jalandhar alone have so far suffered losses to the tune of Rs 22,000 crore.

The industries related to agriculture, textile, steel, food processing, sports goods and all exporters were badly hit by the disruption of freight services.

President of the Federation of Indian Exports Organisations Sharad Kumar Saraf has requested the Railways to resume goods trains to give relief to the industry in economic distress, which was under pressure due to the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.