Indian Railways freight loading in October 2026 reached a record 145.07 million tonnes, registering an 8.32% increase over the 133.93 million tonnes recorded in October 2025.
The growth was supported by higher transportation of food grains, domestic coal and other commodities. Indian Railways also increased coal supplies to power houses to meet rising demand.
Food grains loading grew 26.3% year on year during the month. Domestic coal loading increased 16%, while balance other goods rose 11%.
Food grains and coal drive freight growth
Several other commodity segments also recorded growth in October 2026.
Clinker loading increased 10.4% compared with October 2025. Domestic container loading grew 6.3%, while iron ore rose 5%.
Mineral oil loading increased 1.9% and finished steel registered growth of 0.5%.
Indian Railways supplied an average of 469.8 rakes of domestic coal per day to power houses during October. This compared with 393.2 rakes per day in the corresponding month last year, marking an increase of 19.5%.
The higher rake availability supported coal transportation to meet the requirements of power generation facilities.
April-October freight loading rises 4.67%
The freight performance in October added to the growth recorded during the first seven months of FY27.
Indian Railways loaded 978.78 million tonnes of freight between April and October 2026. This was 4.67% higher than the 935.10 million tonnes recorded during the corresponding period of FY26.
The cumulative performance reflects increased freight movement across major commodity categories during the period.
Passenger traffic also records growth
Indian Railways carried 64.72 crore passengers in October 2026, compared with 63.52 crore in October 2025.
During April-October 2026, passenger traffic reached 443.8 crore, up from 431.4 crore in the corresponding period last year.
The non-suburban segment recorded growth of 4.2%, while suburban passenger traffic increased 1.7%.
Indian Railways said the growth in freight and passenger traffic reflected its efforts to strengthen logistics and mobility services. It also cited capacity augmentation and improvements in operational efficiency as part of its ongoing network expansion.
