Western Railway crosses 100 million tonnes of freight for fourth year

Western Railway has achieved a landmark milestone surpassing 100 million tonnes MT of originating freight loading for the fourth consecutive year reaching the mark on Thursday well ahead of the financial years closeIn a press release the Western Railways said that its total freight loading for the period between April 2025 and Thursday March 12 2026 was 10002 MTStrong growth across key commoditiesThe performance was broadbased with several major commodity segments posting doubledigit growth compared to the previous financial year Container loading emerged as the largest contributor at 3366 MT growing over 10 per cent while fertilizer loading recorded one of the sharpest jumps rising approximately 22 per cent to reach 1892 MT Cement loading stood at 1453 MT up over 3 per centFoodgrain loading grew the fastest among tracked segments surging over 28 per cent to reach 100 MT Iron and steel loading at 069 MT posted growth of around 24 per cent Other commodities collectively accounted for 1594 MT registering growth of approximately 10 per cent Coal and petroleum oil and lubricants POL were among the other major segments contributing to the overall totalNew freight streams bolster portfolioBeyond consolidating existing traffic Western Railway also developed entirely new freight streams during the year Commodities such as industrial salt onion and automobiles were introduced from several locations including Sanosara Bhimasar Vartej the Vadodara Marshalling Yard Kadi and Gandhidham diversifying the zones freight portfolio and opening new revenue corridorsSustained focus on efficiencyOfficials attributed the milestone to a targeted strategy centred on attracting new freight streams improving logistics efficiency and delivering customercentric solutions to shippers The fourth consecutive year above the 100 MT threshold signals a structural strengthening of Western Railways freight operations rather than a oneoff performanceThe achievement is seen as a significant contribution to the Indian Railways broader push to increase its share of the national freight market and reduce logistics costs for industryWestern Railway sets target to double nonfare revenue to Rs 239 crore in FY 202627In line with the Prime Ministers Office PMO directive to significantly enhance nonticket revenue streams for Indian RailwaysWestern RailwayWR has set an ambitious target to double its NonFare Revenue NFR in the coming financial yearThe decision was discussed during a highlevel brainstorming meeting chaired by Western Railways Principal Chief Commercial Manager PCCM Tarun Jain who held discussions with Senior Divisional Commercial Managers Sr DCMs from across the zone to chart out strategies for achieving the goalPMO push to double Indian Railways nonfare revenueThe initiative follows a national mandate to increaseIndian RailwaysNonFare Revenue from Rs 750 crore to Rs 1500 crore through innovative commercial strategies and better utilisation of railway assetsWestern Railway has already reported strong performance in this segment earning Rs 117 crore in NFR as of February 2026 in the current financial year Building on this momentum the zone has set a target of Rs 23924 crore for FY 2026ndash27Officials said the focus will be on leveraging innovative commercial models and expanding revenue streams beyond traditional advertising formats