Hyderabad, Oct 15 (IANS): The gross originating earnings of South Central Railway (SCR) have registered a growth of 6.22 percent during the first half of the current fiscal, a statement said here.

The zone has achieved gross originating earnings of Rs.4,973 crore which is Rs.291 crore more compared to the corresponding period last year.

SCR has shown an improved performance both in revenues and traffic volume from April to September 2013, said the statement by the zone headquartered here.

The volume of passengers grew by 1.7 percent. The zone carried 197.1 million of originating passengers, compared to 193.8 million during corresponding period of last year. SCR is carrying around 10.80 lakh of originating passengers on an average daily.

The passenger earnings have shown a growth of 20 percent. It was Rs.1,286 crore, up from Rs.1,070 crore during April-September 2012.

Originating freight earnings registered a marginal growth of 1.4 percent to Rs.3,430 crore. SCR loaded 52.1 million tonnes (MT) of originating freight during first half of current fiscal. The major commodities include 13.65 MT cement, 3.3 MT food grains, 2.6 MT fertilizers and 27.6 MT coal.

The rail freight loading at Krishnapatnam Port increased to 7.1 MT from 5.8 MT during the same period last year. The loading at Kakinada Port was 3.1 MT, compared to 2.5 MT last year.