Higher coal movement takes rail freight growth to 6.7% in September

After months of sluggish growth, movement of goods through Indian Railways recorded a growth of 6.67 per cent in September, with 123.53 million tonnes (mt) of volumes achieved, according to data released by the ministry of railways.

“Freight revenue of Rs 12,956.95 crore has been achieved in September 2023, against Rs 12,332.70 crore freight earnings in September 2022, thereby showing an improvement of about 5.06 per cent over the last year,” the ministry said.

Much of this growth was led by coal freight, which rose by 9.4 per cent to 59.7 mt in September, owing to a higher coal demand at thermal power plants across the country.