Will Railways suffer a loss this time?

If the current revenue figures are any indication, Railways could just about miss their target for the present fiscal ahead of the coming Rail Budget.

Though earnings from freight traffic till December had grown by 6 per cent as compared to the last fiscal, they could still not be sufficient enough to help the railways meet the target set for 2010-11.

Railways have earned Rs 44,789.55 crore (Rs 447.895 billion) as revenue from commodity-wise freight traffic during April-December 2010 as compared to Rs 42,146.97 crore (Rs 421.469 billion) during the corresponding period last year, registering an increase of 6.27 per cent.

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Earnings from other sources including parcel loading and advertising was at Rs 501 crore (Rs 5.01 billion).

The passenger earnings from April to December stood at Rs 19,205.26 crore (Rs 192.052 billion).

If the total earnings are taken into account including earnings from the coaching department, the total earnings stands at Rs 67,880.82 crore (Rs 678.808 billion), as against railways projected target of Rs 94,765 crore (Rs 947.65 billion) for the entire fiscal.

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Officials fear that with just two-and-a-half months remaining for the financial year to conclude, the railways would be hard pressed to meet the target.

Railways will now have to generate the remaining Rs 26,885 crore (Rs 268.85 billion) or close to Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion) per month to match the target, which looks highly unlikely.

To meet the target, the railway ministry has directed all zones to curb expenditure. "Instructions have been issued to cut ordinary expenses including official tour expenses as part of austerity measures," sources said.