Salem Railway Division loaded 2.08 million tonnes of freight in 2024-25, says DRM

Salem Railway Division loaded 2.08 million tonnes of freight in 2024-25, says DRM

The Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of the Salem Railway Division (SRD), Pankaj Kumar Sinha, said on Sunday that the division loaded 2.085 million tonnes of freight in 2024-25 financial year.

The DRM, who unfurled the national flag at his office as part of the 76th Republic Day celebrations and inspected the parade contingents of the Railway Protection Force, spoke about the achievements of the division during the year. The originating earnings for FY 25 up to December 2024 were ₹897.36 crore. This was 2.34% more compared with that of the same period last year.

All ticket counters across the division were equipped with QR code devices. At present, 40% of revenue from reserved tickets and 10% of revenue from unreserved tickets issued through the counters were collected through digital modes. In the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR), 489 special trips were operated during January-December, 2024, generating a total revenue of ₹17.88 crore. This was the highest ever in a year in the history of NMR, the DRM added.

Further, three escalators were commissioned at Mettupalayam and Tiruppur railway stations, and 13 lifts were installed at the Coimbatore Junction, Coimbatore North, Mettupalayam, Podanur, Salem, Namakkal, and Chinna Salem railway stations in 2024.

Cases were registered against 5,800 defaulters under various provisions of the Railway Act and ₹37.43 lakh were collected as penalty. Also, 76 touts were arrested for booking railway e-tickets fraudulently using fake IDs and 1,386 railway e-tickets, worth ₹19.42 lakh, were seized. In 2025, platforms were raised and their length extended at nine stations, including at Salem Town, Yethapur, Pukkiravari, Mukasaparur, Doddampatti, Danishpet, Veerapandi Road, Mavelipalayam, and Lalapet, Mr. Sinha added.