Railways handled 1,437 MT of freight in 2024

 Indian Railways has benefited greatly this year from the Ministry of Finance’s allocation of approximately Rs 2.6 lakh crore in capital expenditures for the railways. In addition, the year saw the introduction of a number of innovative initiatives that increased the capacity of railroads to handle freight. Between January and November of 2024, Indian Railways loaded 1,473 MT of freight, a 3.86 percent increase over the previous year. The completion of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor and the Easter Dedicated Freight Corridor was a major factor in this. More than 72,000 train runs were made possible by these two corridors.

As a part of the Vikasit Bharat 2047 mission, Indian Railways continued its transformative journey in the year 2024, paving the way for a new era of modernisation and progress. In order to boost investment from industry in setting up cargo terminals, ‘GatiShakti multi-modal cargo terminals (GCT) are being developed across the country. So far, 354 locations (327 on non-railway land and 27 on railway land) have been identified across the country. Till October 31, 2024, 91 terminals have been commissioned.

In the Budget 2024-25, the finance ministry announced three new economic corridors for railways. These three economic railway corridors include Energy, Mineral, and Cement Corridors; Port Connectivity Corridors; and High Traffic Density Corridors.

A total of 434 projects have been planned for implementation under these three corridors. In the calendar year 2024, a total of 58 projects out of total 434 projects were sanctioned across three economic corridors, with a combined completion cost of about Rs 88,875 crore and a total track length of about 4,107 kilometers.

Indian Railways have achieved total commissioning of 3433 Km from April 1, 2024, till date, which includes 1158 Km new line, 259 km gauge conversion, and 2,016 km of line doubling. Apart from these, the Railways has also undertaken several projects during the year with a strong focus on meeting world-class travel experiences, boosting freight efficiency, and adopting advanced technologies.