NEW DELHI: Railways earned Rs 9,461.47 crore from freight transportation in April of this year as compared to Rs 8,071.18 crore during the same period in 2014, an increase of 17.23 per cent.The freight earnings for last month were made up of Rs 4,623.77 crore through transportation of 46.07 million tonnes (MT) of coal, Rs 573.12 crore from ferrying 8.99 MT of iron ore for exports, steel plants and other domestic users and Rs 872.99 crore generated by way of carrying 9.38 MT of cement, said Railway Ministry data.The national transporter also earned Rs 570.17 crore from carrying 3.28 MT of foodgrains, Rs 502.08 crore from 3.47 MT of petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL), Rs 554.51 crore from 3.35 MT of pig iron and finished steel from steel plants and other points, Rs 475.05 crore from 3.43 MT of fertilisers, Rs 178.65 crore from 1.64 MT of raw materials for steel plants except iron ore, Rs 445.84 crore from 3.72 MT via container service and Rs 665.29 crore from 6.48 MT of other goods.Meanwhile, a committee comprising 15 MPs today visited suburban Bhandup and Ghatkopar stations and took stock of the prevailing conditions there following a petition submitted by NGO Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh to the Lok Sabha through Kirit Somaiya.The members also visited the spot at Ghatkopar station, where a student of SNDT college student Monica More had lost both her hands after falling of while trying to board the train.Also, they briefly interacted with her. Few MPs who were part of this visit were Bhagat Sigh Koshyari (chairman of committee), Dinesh Trivedi , Rajan Vichare (MP from Thane) and Dharmendra Yadav.These MPs held formal discussions with the representatives of the Ministry of Railways and said that necessary action would be taken after due deliberations on all points involved."We have gathered necessary information and this visit is really going to be fruitful for the people of Mumbai," said Bhagat Sigh Koshyari, Chairman of the committee.Top brass of central railway including General Manager and Divisional Railway Manager of Mumbai Division also accompanied the committee.Madhu Kotian, petitioner in the case and president of Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh said, "This is good to see our MPs acting here following my petition and this time I am very much hopeful that this visit would come out with fruitful results, unlike in the past."Kotian lauded the efforts of Somaiya and hoped that under his leadership the commuter woes will come to end.