East Coast Railway crosses ₹23,000 crore freight mark in record time, leads national loading charts

East Coast Railway (ECoR) has set a new benchmark in Indian Railways’ freight performance, becoming the fastest zone to achieve ₹23,000 crore in originating freight earnings during the ongoing financial year 2025–26.

The zone reached the milestone on January 19, 2026, completing the target in just 294 days—nearly a month ahead of last year, when the same level of earnings was attained in 321 days. The early achievement highlights ECoR’s expanding freight portfolio and sharper operational execution.

Cumulative originating earnings up to December 2025 stood at ₹23,959 crore, compared with ₹21,543 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year, reflecting an overall growth of 11.21%. Freight continued to be the primary revenue driver, with goods earnings rising from ₹19,482.63 crore to ₹21,749.38 crore year-on-year. Passenger revenue also recorded an uptick, increasing from ₹1,764.32 crore to ₹1,835.91 crore, while sundry earnings grew markedly from ₹155.95 crore to ₹239.15 crore, indicating stronger ancillary income.

In addition to revenue growth, East Coast Railway emerged as the top-performing zone in freight loading across Indian Railways up to December 2025. The zone handled 209.97 million tonnes of cargo during the period, an increase of 21.33 million tonnes over the 188.64 million tonnes loaded a year earlier. This represents a year-on-year growth of 11.31%.

Railway officials credited the performance to close operational monitoring, adoption of innovative practices, and the sustained efforts of employees across divisions. The results underline ECoR’s critical role in supporting industrial activity, mineral evacuation, and the broader national logistics network.

East Coast Railway said it will continue to focus on capacity enhancement, service reliability, and efficiency improvements to further strengthen its contribution to Indian Railways’ freight-led growth strategy.