Southern Railway in the last nine months of the current financial year earned a gross revenue of ₹9,170 crore, a 5 per cent increase from the same period previous year, RN Singh, General Manager, Southern Railway (SR), said.
Delivering his Republic Day speech on Sunday, Singh said SR achieved a punctuality rate of 91.1 per cent. It handled 545 million passengers compared to 528 million in the correspond period last year, he said while giving details on SR’s achievements in the first nine months of the current fiscal.
SR operated 2,329 trips of special trains, 2.8 times higher than the previous year, to meet festive and vacation demands. It introduced LHB coaches to 11 train pairs, enabling speeds of up to 130 km/h, with three more pairs planned by March 2025. Speed has been increased on 300 route km; removed/relaxed 60 permanent speed restrictions, he said.
On passenger amenities, Singh said the project of redevelopment of important stations in SR has been progressing at a fast pace at 13 stations, besides station upgradation works are expected to be completed by March.
On infrastructure development, Singh said doubling of Kanyakumari-Nagercoil Town section has been completed and double-line connectivity between Chennai Egmore and Nagercoil Junction has been achieved.
SR has Installed 255 kW of rooftop solar plants, taking the total capacity to 5.84 MW, and set up windmill plants with a 10.5 MW capacity, he said.