Southern Railway has incurred a minimum loss of around `4 crore due to the devastation unleashed by cyclone Vardah in Chennai city on December 12, an official statement said.This is a conservative estimate of just the losses due to the cancellation of express and suburban train services in the four days from December 12 to 15, it said.
Insiders, however, said the figure could be in the region of `6crore-` `8 crores as the fierce winds brought by the storm caused extensive damage to Overhead Electrification (OHE) lines on the Chennai-Gummidipoondi and Chennai-Tambaram stretch. Moreover, the devastation caused to platform roofs at suburban stations like Korattur and Beach and communication cables and tracks would add to the maintenance cost, they added.
Southern Railway said that during the December 1215 period, 62 trains between popular destinations, with average earnings of `6 lakh per train, were cancelled.Eight trains were terminated short of their destination, 16 trains were diverted, and 26 trains were rescheduled. "The drop in terms of earnings works out to approximately `11 lakh on the suburban sector of Chennai division between December 12 and 14 considering that the division earns `5.5 lakh on an average in the suburban passenger segment per day .The average passenger earnings of Chennai Division is `4.6 crore and average freight earnings are `2.74 crores a day based on the current year average. However, the actual revenue loss can be assessed only when total refunds are compiled at the end of the time period considering the refunds provided," the statement said.
The zone announced on Thursday that train operations were completely back to normal. "Southern Railway had taken sufficient advance precaution. We were well supported by the state government authorities like MTC and district collectors," a senior official said.
Insiders, however, said the figure could be in the region of `6crore-` `8 crores as the fierce winds brought by the storm caused extensive damage to Overhead Electrification (OHE) lines on the Chennai-Gummidipoondi and Chennai-Tambaram stretch. Moreover, the devastation caused to platform roofs at suburban stations like Korattur and Beach and communication cables and tracks would add to the maintenance cost, they added.
Southern Railway said that during the December 1215 period, 62 trains between popular destinations, with average earnings of `6 lakh per train, were cancelled.Eight trains were terminated short of their destination, 16 trains were diverted, and 26 trains were rescheduled. "The drop in terms of earnings works out to approximately `11 lakh on the suburban sector of Chennai division between December 12 and 14 considering that the division earns `5.5 lakh on an average in the suburban passenger segment per day .The average passenger earnings of Chennai Division is `4.6 crore and average freight earnings are `2.74 crores a day based on the current year average. However, the actual revenue loss can be assessed only when total refunds are compiled at the end of the time period considering the refunds provided," the statement said.
The zone announced on Thursday that train operations were completely back to normal. "Southern Railway had taken sufficient advance precaution. We were well supported by the state government authorities like MTC and district collectors," a senior official said.