Railways Freight Loading Hits 145.07 MT in October 2026

The Ministry of Railways reported on 4 November 2026 that Indian Railways moved 145.07 million tonnes of goods during October 2026. That is the heaviest load the network has ever carried in the month of October. In October 2025 the figure stood at 133.93 million tonnes, so the year-on-year rise works out to 8.32 per cent.

Which goods grew fastest

Food grains led the table with a jump of 26.3 per cent. Domestic coal followed at 16.0 per cent, the basket called balance other goods at 11.0 per cent and clinker at 10.4 per cent. Domestic containers rose 6.3 per cent, iron ore 5.0 per cent, mineral oil 1.9 per cent and finished steel 0.5 per cent.

Coal to the power stations

To keep thermal plants supplied, the railways raised the daily run of domestic coal rakes to an average of 469.8 rakes a day in October 2026, against 393.2 rakes a day in the same month a year earlier. That is a gain of 19.5 per cent in the coal moved to power houses.

Seven months of the financial year

Between April and October 2026, the first seven months of the financial year, the network loaded 978.78 million tonnes, ahead of the 935.10 million tonnes of the matching period a year before. The rise comes to 4.67 per cent, and the total has already crossed the mark set over the same stretch of the previous financial year.

Passenger numbers

Passenger travel also climbed. The railways carried 64.72 crore passengers in October 2026, against 63.52 crore in October 2025. Over April to October 2026 the count reached 443.8 crore, up from 431.4 crore in the matching months a year earlier. Within this, the non-suburban segment grew 4.2 per cent while the suburban segment added 1.7 per cent.

What the numbers point to

Heavier loading and higher earnings from goods traffic are read as a sign that the railways is widening its share of the country's logistics work. The ministry credits the gain to extra line capacity and tighter day-to-day working of the network.