**Executive Summary**
This document presents the Minister of Railways' response to questions regarding the Indian Railways' operating ratio, compound annual growth rate, and net revenue over the last five years. It outlines measures taken to increase revenue, including network expansion, electrification, and procurement of wagons and locomotives. The information is current as of December 17, 2025.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Network Expansion:**
* 34,428 km of new tracks laid in the last 11 years.
* As of 01.04.25, 431 projects (154 New Line, 33 Gauge Conversion, and 244 Doubling) are sanctioned.
* Completion status (as of March 2025): New lines (3,036 km), Gauge conversion (2,997 km), Doubling/Multi-tracking (6,736 km).
* **Infrastructure Improvements:**
* Focus on removing bottlenecks through yard remodeling, bypass construction, and rail flyovers.
* Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors (EDFC & WDFC) construction, with 2,741 km (96.4%) commissioned and operational out of 2,843 km total.
* Electrification of the Broad Gauge (BG) network, reaching approximately 99.1% completion. Electrification has increased from 21,801 Route Kilometres before 2014 to 46,900 Route Kilometres between 2014-2025.
* **Procurement and Capacity Enhancement:**
* Procurement of approximately 2 lakh wagons and addition of over 10,000 locomotives (2014-2025).
* Industry participation in investment in General Purpose Wagons, Special Purpose/High-Capacity wagons and Automobile carrier wagons. 240 rakes of special purpose wagons, 374 rakes of general-purpose wagons and 48 rakes of automobile wagons have been inducted.
* Commissioning of 118 new 'Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminals (GCT)' with an estimated traffic capacity of 192 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).
* **Policy Initiatives:**
* Launch of a “Bulk Cement Terminal Policy” to facilitate bulk cement transportation.
* **Operational Improvements:**
* Ensuring increased availability of rakes/wagons against demand.
* Using Information Technology in freight operations to improve monitoring.
* Inducting higher horsepower locomotives.
* Improvement in maintenance practices and track/signaling standards.
* **Financial Performance:**
* Cargo loading increased from 1,055 MT in 2013-14 to 1,617 MT in 2024-25 (approximately 54% increase).
* Revenue increased from Rs. 1,39,838 crore in 2013-14 to Rs. 2,65,678 crore in 2024-25 (approximately 90% increase).
* Operating Ratio: 107.39% (2021-22), 98.10% (2022-23), 98.43% (2023-24), 98.22% (2024-25)
* Surplus: -15,025 crore (2021-22), 2,517 crore (2022-23), 3,260 crore (2023-24), 2,660 crore (2024-25)
**Impact Analysis**
**Indian Railways**
* **Impact:** Benefits from increased network capacity, improved operational efficiency, higher freight volumes, and enhanced revenue.
* **Action Required:** Continue implementing infrastructure projects, optimise freight operations, and leverage IT for improved monitoring and utilisation of assets.
**Freight and Parcel Customers**
* **Impact:** Benefit from increased capacity and efficiency in freight and parcel transport.
* **Action Required:** Utilise the expanded network, Gati Shakti Terminals, and improved services to optimise logistics and reduce transportation costs.
**Economy of India**
* **Impact:** Benefits from increased revenues of the Indian Railways; Increased revenues can be used to further improve rail infrastructure.
* **Action Required:** Ensure financial support for the Indian Railway sector to ensure continued economic benefits.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Railways: The primary subject matter of the document, overseeing the operations and growth of Indian Railways.
Indian Railways: The primary operator and beneficiary of the measures described in the document, concerning its operating ratio, growth rate and revenue.
Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT) Policy: A policy aimed at increasing freight and parcel traffic capacity through the commissioning of new GCTs.
Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC): A dedicated freight corridor project aimed at improving freight transportation efficiency.
Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC): A dedicated freight corridor project aimed at improving freight transportation efficiency.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2950
TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.12.2025
ANNUAL GROWTH RATE OF RAILWAYS
2950. SHRI PARTHA BHOWMICK:
Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:
(a) the details of the Operating Ratio of the Indian Railways during the
last five years, years-wise;
(b) the Compound Annual Growth Rate of Indian Railways during the
last five years, year-wise; and
(c) the details of the net revenue accrued by Railways during the last
five years, year-wise?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)
(a) to (c) To increase the overall revenue, several measures have
been taken by Indian Railways during last 11 years. These include
the following:
To increase the network capacity, rail network expansion has
been taken up in a big way by construction of new lines, multi
tracking of existing lines and gauge conversion of existing lines.
34,428 km new tracks have been laid during the 11 years. Further
as on 01.04.25, 431 (154 New Line, 33 Gauge Conversion and 244
Doubling) projects are sanctioned. The summary of which is as
under:
Page 1 of 4Category No. of Total Length Balance
Projects Length completed length
(km) till Mar’25 (Km)
(Km)
154 16,142 3,036 13,105
New lines
Gauge 33 4,180 2,997 1,183
conversion
Doubling/ 244 15,644 6,736 8,909
Multi
tracking
431 35,966 12,769 23,197
Total
Removing bottlenecks in operations by yard remodeling,
construction of bypass/chord lines, rail flyovers etc.
The construction of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC)
from Ludhiana to Sonnagar (1337 Km) and Western Dedicated
Freight Corridor (WDFC) from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal
(JNPT) to Dadri (1506 Km) has been taken up. Out of total 2843
kms, 2741 route kms (96.4%) has been commissioned and
operational.
Indian Railways has taken up electrification of Railway lines in a
mission mode. So far, about 99.1% of Broad Gauge (BG) network
has been electrified. A comparison of electrification before and
after 2014 is as follows:
Period Route Kilometre
Before 2014 21,801
2014-25 46,900
Procurement of Wagons and Locomotives: To increase freight
carrying capacity, large numbers of IR wagons have been procured
and locomotives have been manufactured. During 2014 to 2025,
about 2 lakh wagons have been procured and more than 10,000
locomotives have been added for increasing freight loading and
Page 2 of 4mobility.
Industry participation in investment in General Purpose Wagons,
Special Purpose/High-Capacity wagons and Automobile carrier
wagons for cement, oil, steel, fly-ash, automobile etc. So far,
around 240 rakes of special purpose wagons, 374 rakes of general-
purpose, wagons and 48 rakes of automobile wagons have been
inducted.
Under the ‘Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT)’ policy so
far, 118 new GCTs have been commissioned, with an estimated
traffic capacity of 192 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). In
addition, for improvement of freight and parcel terminals from the
financial year 2023-24 onwards, an amount of ₹14,500 crore has
been allocated.
A “Bulk Cement Terminal Policy” for setting up terminals on
Railway land has been launched recently as part of Railway
reforms for facilitating Bulk Cement transportation.
Ensuring increased availability of rakes/wagons against demand.
Use of Information Technology in freight operations to improve
monitoring and utilization of assets.
Induction of higher horsepower locomotives.
Improvement in maintenance practices of wagons and
locomotives resulting in increased availability of loco and rolling
stock for traffic use.
Improvement in track and signaling standards to carry higher
volume of traffic.
Because of the above measures, the cargo loading has increased from
1,055 MT in 2013-14 to 1,617 MT in 2024-25 i.e. increase of about 54%.
The revenue has also increased substantially during this period from
Page 3 of 4Rs. 1,39,838 cr. in 2013-14 to Rs. 2,65,678 cr. in 2024-25 i.e. increase of
about 90%.
Railways’ financial position with surplus and Operating Ratio since
2021-22 is given below:
(Rs. in crore)
2021-22* 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25
Total
1,91,367 2,40,177 2,56,094 2,65,678
Revenue
Total
2,06,392 2,37,660 2,52,834 2,63,018
Expenditure
Surplus -15,025 2,517 3,260 2,660
Operating
107.39% 98.10% 98.43% 98.22%
Ratio
*Impact of Covid on Railway operations
*****
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