First time in 167 years railways refunds more than income by selling tickets

This will be the first time in the 167 years history of Indian Railways that it has refunded more passengers than the income made from ticket booking.  In the first quarter of the current financial year affected by the Covid-19 crisis, there was a loss of Rs 1,066 crore in revenue from the passenger class of the railways. This has been revealed in the information sought by Chandrashekhar Gaur of Madhya Pradesh from the Right to Information (RTI).

Accordingly, in the April-June period, the income from the railway passenger category was negative. At the same time, freight income remained at its level. Due to the travel restrictions imposed due to Coronavirus infection, the normal passenger trains of the railways remained closed in the first quarter of the current financial year. During this period, railway lost Rs 531.12 crore in April, Rs 145.24 crore in May and Rs 390.6 crore revenue in June.

Railway spokesperson D.J. Narayan said that the amount of this loss actually shows the figures of refund of railways to more people than their income. Last year, Railways earned Rs 4,345 crore in April, Rs 4,463 crore in May and Rs 4,589 crore in June.

Estimated loss of 40 thousand crores

Railways said that due to the pandemic, the Railways is estimated to suffer a loss of about Rs 40,000 crore in the current financial year. However, during this period, income from his freight remained stable. Railways generated Rs 5,744 crore from freight, Rs 7,289 crore in May and Rs 8,706 crore in June.

Loss of 2 thousand crores due to labor special trains

In the financial year 2019-20, the railways made income of Rs 9,331 crore in April, Rs 10,032 crore in May and Rs 9,702 crore in June. Railways said that during the lockdown, the Railways operated ‘Shramik Special’ trains to bring the migrant laborers to their home. This also caused a loss of about Rs 2,000 crore to the Railways.