Western Railway Faces Loss Over ₹ 1,770 Due To The Coronavirus Pandemic

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has had an adverse impact on the economy as well. Due to the lockdown, several businesses have taken a major hit. Many businesses have been shut and some people have to face jobs cuts. Government bodies too have been affected due to the revenue halt across the nation. During the lockdown, only limited people working in essential sectors and those attending medical duties were allowed to travel. This has resulted in a huge loss for the Indian Railways.

On March 22, when a complete nationwide lockdown was announced, all passenger trains stopped operating across India. However, the Central Government introduced the 'Shramik' trains after a while to carry migrant labourers and their families back to their hometowns. A few special trains have been operating for a while now, but there is still a long way to go before the country goes back to normal and passenger trains start operating in full swing. 

According to the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of the Western Railways (WR), the WR zone of the Indian Railways has incurred a loss of ₹1,784 due to the coronavirus crisis. Out of this, the suburban section faced a loss of ₹261 crores and the non-suburban section faced losses to the tunes of ₹1,509. It has been reported in the media that due to the cancellation of tickets between March 1 to July 16, the WR has refunded the amount of more than ₹398 crore to the passengers across the country. About 61.15 lakh passengers have cancelled their tickets till now and have received their refunds. Mumbai division's refund alone accounts to the amount of ₹190 crores. 

Although the WR is not benefiting from the passenger trains right now, the special parcel and goods trains continue to transport essential commodities across the country. The WR has earned almost ₹25 crores through this transportation.