NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways is estimated to have posted an all-time high revenue of Rs 1.68 lakh crore in the just-ended fiscal year, powered by its focus on boosting freight traffic and innovative steps on passenger fares.The national transporter hauled 1.107 billion tonnes of cargo in the year ended March 31, surpassing its most recent target of 1.094 billion tonnes for fiscal 2017.Railways minister Suresh Prabhu said his aim for this fiscal year is to do 1.2 billion tonnes. The performance was remarkable for an organisation that in the early months of fiscal 2017 was witnessing a major slump in freight and passenger traffic. Key interventions by the ministry since helped it get on to the growth track.The passenger segment is estimated to have posted revenue of almost Rs 48,000 crore last fiscal year, up Rs 2,000 crore from the year before, while freight revenue is estimated at Rs 1.09 lakh crore as against Rs 1.04 lakh crore in fiscal 2016. Non-core revenue, such as from scrap sales and advertising rights, and other income totalled Rs 11,000 crore. "Despite the most challenging environment, we have done very well. Various policy interventions at times when we could foresee slump in demand were taken, which were pivotal in bringing back the traffic," Prabhu said.The steps the ministry took in the past year included additional discounts on loading of some commodities, doing away with various usage charges on freight, as well as innovative pricing of premium passenger trains, such as dynamic pricing on Rajdhani and Shatabdi.In fiscal 2016, Indian Railways posted a total revenue of Rs 1.62 lakh crore. After setting a record in fiscal 2017, the financially stressed national transporter is now expecting to improve on that in the new financial year."We have put in place the necessary infrastructure. There's availability of rakes and demand from various commodities is already seeing an uptick," the minister said. "The various freight reforms we introduced in last fiscal will show a major impact now."The Railway Board 's member-traffic, Mohd Jamshed, said the railways lost business to carry almost 20 million tonnes (MT) of coal last fiscal year due to weak demand for the dry fuel, but made up for that by transporting more iron ore. It hauled 137 MT of the steelmaking raw material, compared with 117 MT the year before."Last time we loaded so much iron ore was during the time of Beijing Olympics [2008] when there was huge demand from China. This time, without any such factor, we have made record loading," Jamshed told ET.He said loading from the expanded freight basket, which also includes automobile transportation, has also seen an uptick.However, despite the signs of recovery in financial health of the national transporter, its operating ratio – the amount it spends to earn each Rs 100 – continues to remain high at around 95 per cent, leaving it with little funds for safety and maintenance projects.In fiscal 2016, the ratio was around 94 per cent. "The operating ratio will be high because our salary bill has gone up significantly in the wake of the Seventh Pay Commission. We spend more than Rs 40,000 crore only towards pensions," a senior Railway Board official said.The railway ministry has been working on an agenda, set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi , to transform the organisation. Under it, the ministry has prepared a five-year development plan, which includes a capex of Rs 8.5 lakh crore.