East Coast Railway (ECoR) has earned the distinction of becoming the first railway zone in the country to achieve 100 million tonnes (MT) of freight loading in just 134 days in the current financial year 2025–26, registering a 10.7 % increase over last year.
This milestone marks a significant improvement over the previous record of 148 days achieved in 2024–25. ECoR made the remarkable feat on 12 August 2025, 14 days ahead of last year’s achievement, reflecting its sustained growth trajectory and operational excellence, the ECoR said in a statement on Wednesday.
Coal, iron ore, and cement were the major commodity contributors in attaining this remarkable feat in freight loading. ECoR loaded 57.734 million tonnes of coal compared to 55.17 million tonnes during the same period last year, an increase of 4.6 %, it said.
Likewise, it loaded 25.984 million tonnes of iron ore compared to 21.758 million tonnes during the same period last year, reflecting 19.4% growth. Similarly, 0.409 million tonnes of cement was loaded against 0.308 million tonnes during the same period last year, an impressive increase of 32.8%, it further noted.
It loaded 1.171 million tonnes of food grains compared to 0.99 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year, an increase of 18.3%. Fertiliser loading stood at 2.858 million tonnes against 2.053 million tonnes in the same period last year, registering a remarkable 39.2% growth.
This milestone is a testament to ECoR’s strategic planning, efficient execution of freight operations, and effective coordination with customers. The optimal utilisation of infrastructure and resources, coupled with a targeted focus on high-demand sectors like coal, iron ore, cement, and fertilisers, has been instrumental in driving this success, ECoR claimed.
With this achievement, East Coast Railway further cements its position as a front-runner among India’s 17 railway zones, playing a crucial role in strengthening the nation’s logistics network and supporting industrial growth, it concluded.