Railways set cargo loading record in FY26, on track to achieve 3,000 MT milestone by 2030

3 min readNew DelhiApr 2, 2026 12:06 AM IST

Indian Railways shipped a record 1,670 million tonnes (MT) of freight in the financial year 2025-26 (FY26), registering a growth of 3.25% over the previous year’s freight transportation of 1,617 MT.

The growth was largely driven by key sectors such as fertilizer (13.49%) , pig iron and steel (13.11%), iron ore (6.74%), container (5.59%), cement (4.74%) and other goods (11.69%).

However, the coal transportation, which accounts for almost 50% of the overall freight, reduced by 0.51%.

Foodgrains also saw a decrease of 2.05% in loading than FY25.

Officials said that the increase in iron ore and cement transportation shows that infrastructure development and construction activity has increased across the country, where railways continues to serve as a vital logistics partner.

Freight is one of the biggest sources of revenue for the railways.

Nearly 65% revenue of railways comes from freight. The passenger segment, which is subsidised, contributes almost 30% of the total revenue of Indian Railways.

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The National Rail Plan pegged the total freight demand for the year 2025 at 6,017 MT. Nearly 27% of the country’s total freight is moved by the railways.

The zone-wise freight loading data shows that South Western Railway (SWR), which has important divisions Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Hubball, has registered a highest increase of 14.89% over the previous year.

Similarly, North Central Railway (NCR) saw an increase of 12.62%, East Coast Railway (ECoR) at 10.42%, and West Central Railway (WCR) at 10.06%.

Other zones which registered positive growth are Eastern Railway (ER) (0.78%), East Central Railway (ECR) (0.39%), North Eastern Railway (NER) (0.25%), Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) (6.75%), North Western Railway (NWR) (5.17%), South Central Railway (SCR) (2.59%), South East Central Railway (SECR) (3.18%), Southern Railway (SR) (1.10%), and Western Railway (WR) (3.57%).

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However, the freight loading in four zones Central Railway, Konkan Railway, Northern Railway and South eastern railway saw a decrease of 3.87%, 2.02%, 6.13% and 0.92%.

According to the 2019 National Rail Plan, prepared for a “future-ready” railway system, the Indian Railways has set ambitious targets.

Besides increasing freight capacity to 3,000 MT by 2030, there are plans to raise the speed of freight trains to 100 km per hour from the current average speed of 25 kmph.

In December 2025, the Standing Committee on Railways underlined the need for Indian Railways to diversify its freight basket, move beyond bulk commodities, and focus on goods that are primarily transported by road to jack up its business.

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The panel suggested that the railways should explore automobiles, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and e-commerce.

Dheeraj Mishra is a Principal Correspondent with the Business Bureau of The Indian Express. He plays a critical role in covering India’s massive infrastructure sectors, providing in-depth reporting on the connectivity lifelines of the nation.
Expertise & Focus Areas: Mishra’s journalism is focused on two of the country’s most capital-intensive and public-facing ministries:

Ministry of Railways: Tracking the operations, safety, and development of India’s vast railway network.

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways: Covering policy decisions, infrastructure projects, and highway development.

What sets Mishra apart is his rigorous use of the Right to Information (RTI) Actas a primary tool for news gathering. By relying on official data and government records, he ensures a high degree of accuracy and trustworthiness in his reporting. This data-driven approach has resulted in numerous impactful reports that hold public institutions accountable and bring transparency to government operations.
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