Indian Railways has generated Rs47,558.78 crore revenue earnings from freight traffic during fiscal 2007-08, up from Rs41,768.35 crore during the corresponding period last year, an increase of 13.86 per cent.

Railways carried 794.21 million tonnes of freight traffic during fiscal 2007-08 as compared to 728.77 million tonnes carried during 2006-07, reflecting an increase of 8.98 per cent. The net tonne kilo metres (NTKM) went up from 475,227 million during the fiscal 2006-07 to 511,801 million during the fiscal 2007-08, an increase of 7.70 per cent.

The earnings from freight traffic during the month of March 2008 went up to Rs4,856.96 crore, from Rs4,108.37 crore in MArch 2007 showing an increase of 18.22 per cent on movements of 78.48 million tonnes of freight traffic, up from 72.43 million tonnes of freight in March last year, registering an increase of 8.35 per cent. The Net Tonne Kilo Metres (NTKM) went up from 46124 million during the month of March 2007 to 50357 million during March 2008, showing an increase of 9.18 per cent.

Of the total freight earnings during the month of March 2008:

Rs17,65.60 crore came from transportation of 33.14 million tonnes of coal
Rs856.96 crore from 13.44 million tonnes of iron ore
Rs401.69 crore from 7.69 million tonnes of cement
Rs393.60 crore from 4.08 million tonnes of foodgrains
Rs285.12 crore from 3.41 million tonnes of petroleum oil and lubricant (POL)
Rs278.39 crore from 2.70 million tonnes of iron and finished steel
Rs190.06 crore from 2.64 million tones of container service
Rs162.88 crore from 2.45 million tonnes of fertilisers
Rs 70.96 crore from 0.96 million tonnes of raw material for steel plants except iron ore and
Rs451.70 crore from 7.97 million tonnes of other goods.