Indian Railways reported a 2.97% year-on-year growth in freight revenue for February, reaching Rs 14,571.99 crore. The Railways Ministry stated that freight loading also rose by 3.96% to 137.72 million tonnes compared to the same period last year. Net Tonne Kilometres (NTKM), a measure of transport output, increased by 4.18% to 76,007 million NTKM in February 2026.
Moreover, the surge in freight traffic was primarily fueled by core commodities like coal, iron ore, finished steel, fertilisers, cement, and container cargo. Iron ore loading saw a significant increase of 27.6% to 0.675 MT, while pig iron and finished steel loading rose by 20.8% to 0.343 MT. The loading of raw materials for steel plants, excluding iron ore, also witnessed a substantial growth of 46.9% to 0.141 MT.
Fertiliser loading surged by 10.2% to 0.184 MT, and both mineral oil and container EXIM traffic saw a rise of 17.8% each. The government highlighted strong growth in key commodities based on monthly cumulative data. Container traffic showed a 5.6% increase in EXIM cargo and a 2.3% rise in domestic container traffic during the month.
From April 2025 to February 2026, Indian Railways transported 1,503.8 million tonnes of freight, marking a 3.28% increase from the previous year. The freight revenue for this period amounted to Rs 1.61 lakh crore, with freight movement measured at 840,000 million NTKM.
