The Central Railway (CR) has recorded an increase of over 43,000 average daily suburban passengers within the first four months of the current financial year. According to data collected by the CR between April and July, a total of 46.10 crore passengers travelled in the suburban trains, while in the same corresponding period last year, the number stood at 45.58 crore, indicating a cumulative growth of 52 lakh passengers. This implies that on an average, 37.78 lakh daily passengers are reported to be traveling on CR suburban section as against 37.36 lakh last year.
“This is an incredible growth and accommodating an increase of over 43,000 daily average passengers in merely four months is a difficult task. Surprisingly, on Raksha bandhan on August 20, the total number of passengers traveling on a single day touched the 52 lakh mark,” said Atul Rane, chief PRO of CR.
The highest daily average passenger growth was recorded in July when it crossed 38.34 lakh passengers. Subsequently, the rise of passengers has also reflected in the earnings of Railways, as the total revenue earned through suburban services of Central Railway has shot up to `242.10 crore from `213.26 crore last year. “Any kind of passengers’ growth resulting in greater revenue is always good news for us, and we see it as a morale booster,” said another official from the commercial division. He, however, added, “43,000 daily passengers’ growth is almost one per cent of the total commuters, but our capacity and target is to increase it by four per cent.”
Transport activist Ashok Datar, on the other hand, said, “The Railways has already reached its limit and it’s high time that taking cue from this increased passenger growth, other modes of transport like civic buses are strengthened.”
On an average, carrying capacity during peak hours of a nine-car train is 2,100 people, 12-car train is nearly 2,800 people and 15-car train is 3,500 passengers. Currently, Central Railway is running 1,621 services, while the ministry of railway has announced that it will add 76 services to both Western and Central Railway by the end of this financial year.