Low profits, more expenditure

Hyderabad, August 1: The hopes of Railway officials of earning about Rs 1,000 crore profits by running special trains during Godavari Pushkaralu were dashed to ground. Expecting a heavy devotee turn out, the railways ran 823 special trains. But it earned only Rs 49.1 crore. Crores of devotees turned up to pushkar ghats in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states during the 14-day Pushkaralu. According to official calculations, about 11 crore devotees participated in the religious event. The officials observed that if only they had run more express trains, they might have reached their revenue target. Out of the 823 special trains, 757 were passenger trains while 66 were express trains. The fare from Secunderabad to Kazipet is Rs 65 in express train whereas it is only Rs 26 in passenger. This is the reason for the low income despite trains were filled with passengers during the festival. More trains were operated in Andhra Pradesh as the pushkar places in Telangana are close by. Only six express trains out of 66 were operated to Bhadrachalam road station. Of the 757 unreserved passenger trains, 356 operated in Telangana and 401 in AP. The officials said they incurred more expenditure than profits. We predicted of incurring loss beforehand but ran the trains for the sake of passengers, a railway officer said.