Indian Railways is anticipating increased freight loadings from the coal sector with the Centre removing hurdles in the allotment of coal blocks.
The public sector entity has said systemic improvements and innovative steps in the area of wagon movement need to be taken keeping in view the coming demand.
Railway Board Member (Traffic) Ajay Shukla felt that growth in the economy would result in increased potential for cargo movement.
“There is an anticipated jump in coal loading as issues connected to coal blocks have been solved. The Government has chalked out a program to provide round-the-clock power supply across the nation in the next four years,” he stated.
The Member held a meeting with top officials of the South Central Railway zone here on Saturday.
“In this backdrop, there is a need to develop a comprehensive program for initiating systemic improvements,” he stated.
He asked the zone to adopt necessary steps to achieve a freight loading target of 128 million tonnes in the fiscal year 2015-16.
SCR General Manager P K Srivastava said the zone is gearing up to fill the increased demand from Singareni Collieries, ports in Krishnapatnam and Kakinada, and from the cement industry.
