When Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu presented his maiden Budget last February, he promised a freight growth target never achieved before in the national transporter's 160 year-old history.

Railways was to carry an incremental 85 million tonnes (mt) of goods in 2015-16, against the traditional average loading of less than 50 mt annually. That was the biggest announcement of the Budget. "Freight traffic is pegged at an all time-high incremental traffic of 85 mt, anticipating a healthier growth in the core sector of the economy, specially where rail co-efficient is high and by tapping ...