Bhubaneswar, Jul 4 (IANS): The East Coast Railway (ECoR) has carried 45.80 million tonne (mt) of freight, including 27.06 mt of coal in its jurisdiction, by utilising 12,680 trains during the lockdown period, an official said on Saturday.

From March 22 to June 30 (for 101 days), ECoR carried 27.06 mt of coal in 7100 trains from its jurisdiction.

Out of this, 16.14 mt of indigenous coal from Talcher area in 4157 trains and 10.92 mt of imported coal from different ports under ECoR jurisdiction were transported to various powerhouses and industries across the country, said an ECoR statement.

Keeping in view the importance of food grains, East Coast Railway has taken it as a challenge and ensured continuous supply towards different destinations.

During this period, ECoR carried 0.95 mt of food grains, especially rice to different states like Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Jharkhand etc. by utilising 333 number of trains.

Apart from this, 1.20 mt of fertilizer to states like uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal in 470 trains and 279 trains of petroleum products were transported from ECoR jurisdiction towards various places, the statement said.

1268 trains of iron ore, 895 trains of iron and steel products, 41 trains of cement were also loaded for various destinations.

In the first quarter of 2020-21, ECoR loaded about 42 mt of freight which is more than 82 percent, that of the last year in the same period.

Amongst all the zones of Indian Railways, ECoR loaded the highest freight traffic during this period. This was achieved in spite of lockdown during this entire period.