Freight loading by the Indian Railways stood at 673.64 million tonnes (MT) in April-August 2025, up from 653.22 MT in the same months of last fiscal. Officials said the continued higher freight movement was amidst coal loading being rationalised due to extended rains and moderating growth in power demand.
“There is a 31% growth in Balance Other Goods – showing healthy diversification of freight traffic and minimal impact of the geo-political tariff war by United States of America (USA),” a senior official said.
Monthly freight loading stood at 130.9 MT in August 2025, up from 120.6 MT in the same month last year which is a growth of 8.5%. The monthly freight earnings for August also grew to highest ever of Rs 14,100 crore.
Officials said this has been driven by 9% growth of freight loading in coal. There has also been a 22% rise in Finished Steel, 4.5% in Mineral Oil, 6% in Domestic Containers, 5% in EXIM containers (both export and import).