Indian Railways (IR) has achieved a total freight loading of about 1,617.38 million tonnes (mt) in the financial year (FY) 2024-25, reflecting a 1.68 per cent (26.7 mt) increase over the 1,590.68 mt recorded in FY 2023-24. Commodity-wise, IR registered an increase of 19.72 per cent in domestic container loading, 7.4 per cent in coal, 1.25 per cent in fertilisers, and 0.61 per cent in petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL) loading. Additionally, stock at power houses in India reached 57 mt due to the enhanced loading of coal by IR. The five major commodities for domestic container loading include gunny sacks, hot rolled coils, ceramic tiles, wall care putty, and rice.
Furthermore, zone-wise, in terms of loading, IR registered an increase of 16.11 per cent from Eastern Railway (ER), 7.28 per cent from South East Central Railway (SECR), 4.21 per cent from Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), 3.89 per cent from Northern Railway (NR), 2.82 per cent from East Central Railway (ECR), 2.14 per cent from South Central Railway (SCR), 1.19 per cent from East Coast Railway (ECoR), 0.80 per cent from Southern Railway (SR), and 0.36 per cent from South Eastern Railway (SER).