Waltair emerges sixth highest loading division in Indian Railways during lockdown

The nationwide lockdown, which was brought into effect in late March, halted the movement of passenger trains across India in an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus. However, the freight movement continued uninterrupted. The Waltair Division, on Tuesday, revealed that it has transported 11.81 million tonnes of freight during the lockdown imposed across the country. With this, the Division became the sixth highest loading division in Indian Railways.

Providing details about the feat achieved by the Waltair Division, G Suneel Kumar, Sr Divisional Commercial Manager said, “The efforts of the Waltair Division to ensure uninterrupted supply of the essential commodities to various parts of the country during this lockdown period, saw 11.81 million tones of freight transported between April and June 2020. Relentless efforts of the railway personnel of this Division helped it become the sixth highest loading division in Indian Railways.”

“During this period, the Waltair Division has transported 11.81 million tonnes in 2527 rakes comprising essential commodities like coal, iron ore, aw material for steel plants, mineral oils etc. The main freight points of the Division are Visakhapatnam port, Gangavaram Port, Vizag Steel plant, NMDC Iron Ore mines in KK line at Bacheli, Kirandul etc. Further, the division has unloaded 33.21 rakes per day on an average,” Mr Kumar added.

Divisional Railway Manager, Chetan Kumar Shrivastava, appreciated the efforts of the railwaymen for continuing the uninterrupted supply chain and achieving this feat even during this pandemic. “The achievement has been made possible due to untiring efforts of the operations department under the guidance of Senior Divisional Operations Manager KVSRK Kishore,” the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager noted.

Meanwhile, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) too stated that it utilized the nationwide lockdown judiciously to augment and maintain infrastructure. The ECoR also said that focus was laid on several long pending projects.