New Delhi, Feb 21 : The total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis during the period 1-10 February 2008 were Rs. 21.56 billion compared to Rs. 17.36 billion during the same period last year, registering an increase of 24.19 per cent.

The total goods earnings have gone up from Rs. 11.94 billion during 1st February - 10th February 2007 to Rs. 14.65 billion during 1-10 February 2008, showing an increase of 22.69 per cent.

The total passenger revenue earnings during the period 1-10 February 2008 were Rs. 6.24 billion compared to Rs. 4.75 billion during the same period last year, reflecting an increase of 31.41 per cent.

The revenue earnings from other coaching amounted to Rs. 479.2 million during this period compared to Rs. 471.8 million during the same period last year, showing an increase of 1.57 per cent.

The total approximate number of passengers booked during the period 1-10 February 2008 were 180.40 million compared to 182.66 million during the same period last year, showing a decrease of 1.24 per cent.

In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the number of passengers booked during 1-10 February 2008 were 102.06 million and 78.34 million compared to 105.49 million and 77.17 million during the same period last year, registering a decrease of 3.25 per cent and an increase of 1.52 per cent respectively.

However, Minister of State for Railways, R. Velu denied making any statement on rail fare proposals prior to Railway Budget.

Certain sections of electronic media are showing a news misquoting Velu saying that there will be no hike in the fares in the Railway Budget 2008-09.

This is to clarify that while interacting with the media after the Conference on High Axle Load at Vigyan Bhawan here today, the Minister only said that the budget will be people friendly and refused to make any comment when one of the media representatives asked about the fare hike in the Budget.

The Minister made no mention about fares as it is obvious that budget proposals are not made public prior to presentation of the Budget by Minister of Railways in the Parliament.

ANI