Railways' earnings take a hit; lower by Rs 12,000 Cr in April-August period

New Delhi: The railways has witnessed a shortfall of around Rs 12,000 crore from ticketing, loading and sundries in the April-August period this year as compared to the corresponding period last year, with the national transporter failing to meet any of its target growth rates in the first five months of the current fiscal, according to official documents.

While the railways' earnings have gone up by 3.3 per cent, its expenses have gone up by 8.65 per cent from April-August, 2018 to April-August, 2019.

The deficit of Rs 11,852.91 crore does not take into account the expenses for the salaries of the staff or pension, which is likely to take the shortfall to a much higher amount.

While despite efforts, railway officials refused to give a consolidated number, reports suggested that the shortfall could be of around Rs 30,000 crore by the year-end.

According to the documents, the railways had set a target to achieve a 9.65 per cent growth in passenger earnings by August, but in reality, it managed a growth of 4.56 per cent over the same period last year.

Similarly, it had set a target of 12.22 per cent growth in freight loading, but the actual increase stood at 2.80 per cent.