COVID-19: Lockdown hits Northeast Frontier Railway earnings

Revealing this at a press conference here on Friday, Sanjive Roy, general manager, NFR, said the overall earning of the NFR has come down due to the suspension of regular passenger train services, notwithstanding the fact that freight movement has increased during the period compared to previous years.

He said, “The increase in freight handling cannot compensate for the loss in the passenger segment,” adding that the figures of the loss are not available yet.

Roy further said 8-9 special trains are being run daily by NFR currently, and though the occupancy was less in the initial days, it has increased to 90-100 per cent now.

He added that the Railways are prepared to run more passenger trains, adding, “For passenger trains, the state governments have to take the call. The Railways are ready.”

He informed that 724 Shramik Special Trains were run by the NFR, transporting seven lakh passengers, while ‘road bridging’ of 4800 passengers from Guwahati to Jiribam (Manipur) and Agartala (Tripura) was also done due to suspension on train movement at Guwahati.

The GM elaborated on the increase in freight services during the lockdown period, informing that there was an increase of 16.90% in number of freight trains run in August this year compared to the same month last year.

Moreover, sectional speed has been raised, loop lines have been raised, and average speed of goods trains has also increased during the lockdown and subsequent unlock periods.

With a focus on the policy for increasing freight trains, concessions and discounts are being granted, ease-of-doing business initiatives are being taken, terminals are being decongested, and steps are being taken to attract smaller than train-load traffic, among other measures, Roy said.

“We have also taken initiatives for marketing, like forming business development units and attracting more non-traditional cargo,” he added.

The NFR is also supplementing the state government’s efforts in combating COVID 19, he said, adding that health infrastructure of the Railways are being provided for COVID care facilities.

COVID care facilities have already been made functional in four NFR hospitals, from where 750 patients have already been cured and discharged, while 215 are still undergoing treatment.

Altogether 8718 PPE kits, 2400 litres of hand sanitizers and one lakh reusable face covers or masks have also been manufactured in-house since the beginning of the lockdown, the GM added.