Railway passenger traffic rises 6% in FY25, crosses 7 billion mark

Passenger traffic rose 6% in FY25, driven by growth in both reserved and unreserved categories while revenue rose 50% since FY20 on the back of premium train services

Passenger volume on the Indian Railways increased by 6 per cent in 2024-25 (FY25), riding on a 5 per cent rise in the reserved ticket category and 6.2 per cent growth in unreserved passenger volume.

 

The Railways has been seeing a resurgence in passenger travel since its halt due to the Covid lockdown. For the first time in five years, the total passenger count crossed 7 billion. However, it is still below pre-Covid volumes.

 

Historical data (since 2011) show that the Railways was carrying over 8 billion passengers for a decade before the lockdown, with peak volume in FY13 (8.49 billion passengers).

 

Since most of the passenger reduction is in the non-suburban segment, revenue has seen an almost 50 per cent rise since FY20 at ₹75,215 crore. 

 

Passengers travelling in sleeper class have also seen a reduction over the past two years.

 

With the introduction of premium trains such as the Vande Bharat, railway revenue from chair car services has risen nearly four times in four years to ₹₹4,400 crore.

 

According to officials, long-distance sleeper Vande Bharats, once introduced, will spur even higher revenue generation in the long-distance segments.