Indian Railways transported 145.07 million tonnes of freight in October 2026, an increase of 8.32% from 133.93 million tonnes in October last year, the Railway Ministry said on November 4.
The ministry's new monthly update described the total as a record for October. It reported year-on-year growth of 26.3% in food-grain loading and 16% in domestic coal, while domestic-container loading rose 6.3%.
Across April–October, the railway carried 978.78 million tonnes of freight, against 935.10 million tonnes in the corresponding period of 2025, a rise of 4.67%.
Coal supplied to power stations averaged 469.8 train rakes a day during October, compared with 393.2 a year earlier. The ministry put that increase at 19.5%.
The release also reported 64.72 crore passenger journeys in October, compared with 63.52 crore in October 2025. These are the ministry's reported transport totals; the update does not provide a freight-revenue figure.
Archive railway marshalling yard in Goa. The photographer dates this scene to October 1994; it does not show October 2026 operations. Photo: Railway Marshalling Yard, Goa, India by Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0.
