In May, Indian Railways transported 9.3% more coal than the previous year, and government data shows that freight volumes for all commodities on the railway network increased by 3.9% in the month prior, despite the summer heat reaching record highs in northern India.
In May 2024, 139.16 million tons (mt) of freight were loaded, up 8.46% month over month from 128.3 mt in April. In May, Indian Railways brought in Rs 15,230.9 crore from freight, an increase of 8.2% sequentially. The national carrier made Rs 14,641 crore in May 2023—a 4% rise in freight earnings.
Most importantly, the ministry’s volume improvements over the previous year have yet to be achieved. It wants to reach 3,000 mt of freight by 2030, thus it needs to quickly quadruple its current amount of freight.
The majority of thermal power plants have been replenishing their coal volumes steadily, which officials attribute in large part to improved logistics planning before summer and the completion of the eastern dedicated freight corridor, which links Punjab and Bihar and passes through some of the major chokepoints in the Indian rail network.
According to the financial year’s data, the total amount of freight loaded during the first two months of 2024–25 (April and May) was 267.5 million tons, which is 2.7% more than the same period the previous year.