Indian Railways freight rises 4% in February to 137.72 million tonnes

Railways ferried 137.72 mt of goods in February, up 4% year-on-year, with growth across key commodities and NTKM rising, though experts say double-digit expansion is needed to meet long-term goals

National transporter Indian Railways ferried 137.72 million tonnes (mt) of goods in February, registering a 4 per cent increase against last year.

 

“Freight revenue during the month stood at ₹14,571.99 crore, up from ₹14,151.96 crore in the corresponding month last year, reflecting a 2.97 per cent increase,” the rail ministry said on Friday.

 

The railways has also registered improvement in distance travelled with goods.

 

Net Tonne Kilometres (NTKM), which is a key indicator of freight movement, reached 76,007 million NTKM in February 2026, compared with 72,955 million NTKM in February 2025, the ministry said.

 

This translates to a 4.18 per cent growth.

 

According to the railways, fertiliser loading increased to 5.4 mt during the last month, which is a growth of 27 per cent year-on-year.

 

“Clinker rose to 6.508 million tonnes from 5.421 million tonnes (up 20.1 per cent). Pig iron and finished steel loading reached 6.237 million tonnes compared to 5.522 million tonnes (up 12.9 per cent), and iron ore grew to 16.370 million tonnes from 14.925 million tonnes (up 9.7 per cent),” the ministry said.

 

Freight growth across the year has been steady too, said railways.

 

In 2025–26 so far, Indian Railways carried 1,503.80 mt of freight, compared with 1,456.07 million tonnes during the same period of the previous year, registering a 3.28 per cent increase.

 

Freight revenue during this period reached ₹1.61 trillion, as compared to ₹1.58 trillion in the corresponding period last year, marking a 1.54 per cent increase.

 

Experts have previously said that the national transporter needs to bring about major leaps in freight loading and grow in double-digit percentages to meet its targets of reaching 3,000 mt by 2031.