ECoR Retains Top Spot As India’s Leading Freight Railway Zone

With an all-time high freight loading of 286.3 Million Tonnes (MT) for the fiscal year 2025–2026, East Coast Railway (ECoR) has once again solidified its status as Indian Railways’ top freight handling zone. The zone’s steady expansion and operational excellence are highlighted by this notable 27 MT increase over the loading of 259.25 MT from the prior year.

The zone had a significant increase in freight revenues concurrent with the increase in freight loads. East Coast Railway made ₹29,456.60 crore from freight operations in 2025–2026, a strong increase of more than 10% from ₹26,691.82 crore in 2024–2025. Its leadership in freight operations throughout Indian Railways is further reinforced by this impressive financial performance.

With this accomplishment, East Coast Railway maintains its position as the top railway zone in terms of freight performance, accounting for 17.1% of Indian Railways’ annual total of 1669.9 MT of freight loading. Interestingly, East Coast Railway has surpassed 200 MT for seven years running, demonstrating its ongoing dominance in freight operations. Important bulk commodities including coal, iron ore, steel, cement, alumina, fertilizers, and food grains are transported via the zone and are vital to core industries like infrastructure, heavy industries, and power production.

In addition to its freight accomplishments, East Coast Railway has also recorded encouraging growth in passenger business during the year. During 2025–26, the zone carried 97.64 million passengers, generating earnings of ₹2,495.51 crore, as compared to 93.52 million passengers and ₹2,371.09 crore in 2024–25. This represents a steady rise in both passenger volume and revenue.

The growth in passenger traffic reflects increasing public confidence in railway services and is driven by continuous improvements in passenger amenities, better punctuality and reliability of train services, expansion and augmentation of train operations, enhanced cleanliness, and improved safety measures to ensure a more comfortable and secure travel experience.