Despite the 20 per cent hike in freight charges and a partial increase in passenger fares, railway earnings have fallen short by Rs 815.38 crore (Rs 8.15 billion) against the target of Rs 10,268.22 crore (Rs 102.68 billion) in April this year.
Railways have earned Rs 9452.84 crore (Rs 94.52 billion) in April, registering a decrease of 7.94 per cent.
Railways had increased freight charges by 20 per cent before the Railway Budget. Passenger fares increased by 15 paisa per km for AC 2 and 30 paisa per km for AC 1 from April.
Platform tickets will also cost Rs 5 now.
While the Railways failed to meet the earnings target, its working expenses has exceeded the budget provision during April.
According to the monthly evaluation report, railways' working expenses was Rs 9631.39 crore (Rs 96.31 billion) as against the budget provision of Rs 9343.68 crore (Rs 93.43 billion) which is Rs 287.71 crore (Rs 2.87 billion)
Railways earned Rs 6726.40 crore (Rs 67.26 billion) from freight as against the target of Rs 7077.02 crore (Rs 70.77 billion) for April this year, falling short of Rs 350.62 crore (Rs 3.5 billion), a decrease of 4.95 per cent.
Railways also registered a negative growth of 15.57 per cent in the passenger earnings section as the national transporter could earn only Rs 2355.74 crore (Rs 23.55 billion) against the target of Rs 2790.19 crore (Rs 27.9 billion) in the first month of the current fiscal.
While the loading target for the month was 80.79 million tons, the public behemoth could carry only 80.05 MT in April.
