Indian Railways kicked off 2026 on a high note, with February freight earnings swelling 2.97% to 14,571.99 crore rupees compared to the prior year. Official statistics unveiled Friday showcase the network’s resilience and strategic push into high-demand sectors.
The previous February’s 14,151.96 crore pales against this growth, fueled by a 3.96% hike in freight volume to 137.72 million tonnes versus 132.48 million tonnes. NTKM, a critical efficiency barometer, advanced 4.18% to 76,007 million from 72,955 million.
Leading the charge were staples like coal and iron ore, alongside finished steel, fertilizers, cement, and containers. Iron ore daily loading leaped 27.6% to 0.675 MT, while raw iron and steel climbed 20.8% to 0.343 MT.
Steel plant raw materials (sans iron ore) rocketed 46.9% to 0.141 MT. Fertilizers increased 10.2% to 0.184 MT, and container/mineral oil EXIM traffic jumped 17.8%. Imported containers rose 5.6%, domestic by 2.3%.
Year-to-date from April 2025, cumulative loading reached 1,503.8 MT, surpassing last year’s 1,456.07 MT by 3.28%. Revenue aggregated 1.61 lakh crore, with NTKM growing 1.62% to 840,000 million.
This performance underscores Railways’ pivot towards freight dominance, optimizing infrastructure to meet India’s industrial hunger and cementing its role in the supply chain revolution.