East Coast Railway sets new highs in freight loading for FY 2023-24

East Coast Railway (ECoR) has achieved a milestone, by surpassing all previous records of Indian Railways in freight loading during the financial year 2023-24. From April 1, 2023 to March 25, 2024, ECoR loaded an astounding 250 million tonnes of freight, marking a significant leap beyond the earlier record set in the 2022-23 fiscal year.

This achievement also marks ECoR as the first Zone to exceed the milestone of 200 million tonnes of loading for the fifth consecutive time. The stellar performance owes much to the contributions from all three divisions of ECoR.

Notably, the Khurda Road Division led the charge with a contribution of 156.17 million tonnes, followed by Waltair Division with 74.66 million tonnes and Sambalpur Division with 19.20 million tonnes.

During the fiscal year 2023-24, ECoR loaded various commodities including coal, raw materials for steel plants, steel & slag, iron ore, cement, food grains, fertilisers, mineral oil, freight in containers, and other goods, totalling 6 per cent more than the previous year.

The major contributors to this achievement include coalfields of MCL at Talcher, five ports in ECoR jurisdiction, iron ore mines in Bailadila and Keonjhar district and major steel & aluminum companies.