Indian Railways Freight Hits 135M Tonnes in September: 6.1% YoY Growth

Indian Railways achieved 135.35 million tonnes of freight loading in September 2026, representing 6.14% growth compared to the same month in 2025. This performance reflects broad-based strength across multiple commodity categories, with foodgrains surging 25%, clinker rising 20%, and domestic containers climbing 10%. Critically, freight revenue grew even faster at 9.3%, suggesting that pricing and higher-value cargo mix are complementing volume gains. The infrastructure backbone supporting this expansion includes 149 commissioned Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals designed to bring rail access closer to production and consumption centers, with an estimated annual handling capacity of 224 million tonnes across the completed facilities.

For supply chain professionals, this development signals strengthening demand fundamentals across India's agricultural, energy, and industrial sectors. The 11.6% increase in average daily coal supplies to power stations (443 rakes versus 397 a year earlier) underscores reliable energy logistics, while the balanced growth across commodity types suggests diversified economic activity rather than a single-sector spike. The distinction between September's stronger year-on-year growth rate versus August's higher absolute volume is significant: it indicates seasonal demand patterns and demand predictability, which is critical for operators planning network utilization and capacity allocation. The continued expansion of private investment in rail infrastructure (approximately ₹10,000 crore mobilized, with 275 operational special-purpose rakes and 397 general-purpose rakes under private schemes) demonstrates growing confidence in rail-based supply chains.

However, translating terminal capacity into consistent service accessibility remains the key challenge. Supply chain teams should monitor whether these capacity additions actually reduce transit times and lower logistics costs or simply redistribute existing demand across new facilities.