South Western Railway (SWR) achieved significant milestones in freight loading, revenue generation, and infrastructure development during the financial year 2025–26, overcoming operational challenges while setting new benchmarks in performance.
At the forefront, the zone recorded a landmark Originating Freight Revenue of ₹5,347.40 crore, surpassing the previous best of ₹4,672 crore achieved in 2024–25. The overall Gross Revenue also reached an impressive ₹9,488 crore, reflecting a substantial increase from ₹8,489 crore in the previous year and underscoring the zone’s strong financial stability.
In the passenger segment, Passenger Revenue rose to ₹3,468 crore from ₹3,172.5 crore last year, supported by increased ridership. Passenger traffic witnessed a healthy growth, with 176.93 million passengers carried during the year compared to 165.53 million in the previous year. Among other revenue streams, Other Coaching Revenue increased to ₹329.5 crore, and Sundry Revenue reached 342 crore, while Parcel Revenue grew to ₹170.4 crore from ₹166.4 crore last year. Commercial Sundry Revenue also registered a notable rise, reaching ₹121.08 crore as against ₹92.82 crore in the previous year. Additionally, Ticket Checking Revenue saw a substantial increase, rising to ₹70.76 crore compared to ₹53.61 crore in the previous year, further contributing to overall revenue growth.
Freight performance during 2025–26 reflected a strong upward trend across all commodities. Total freight loading increased from 45.65 million tonnes in 2024–25 to 52.46 million tonnes in 2025–26, registering an impressive growth of 6.81 million tonnes (14.9%). Iron ore remained the highest contributor, with loading increasing from 19.14 million tonnes to 20.98 million tonnes, registering a growth of 1.84 million tonnes (9.6%). Pig iron and finished steel followed, recording substantial loading of 10.95 million tonnes as against 8.46 million tonnes in the previous year, showing a significant increase of 2.49 million tonnes (29.4%).
South Western Railway also contributed about 13% to the incremental freight loading of Indian Railways, which increased from 1,615 million tonnes to 1,667.8 million tonnes during the same period.
Coal emerged as another major contributor, with loading rising from 8.92 million tonnes to 10.31 million tonnes, marking a growth of 1.39 million tonnes (15.6%). Raw Materials for Steel Plants witnessed the highest percentage growth among all commodities, increasing sharply from 1.31 million tonnes to 2.47 million tonnes, an increase of 1.16 million tonnes (88.1%). Among other segments, Fertilizer loading increased from 1.13 million tonnes to 1.18 million tonnes (4.6%), while Container traffic grew from 0.82 million tonnes to 0.99 million tonnes, registering a notable rise of 0.17 million tonnes (21%). Food Grains loading also showed a marginal increase from 0.46 million tonnes to 0.50 million tonnes (8.7%).
