New Delhi, April 3 -- Indian Railways is set to achieve 1.6 billion tonnes freight loading in FY 2024-25, making it the third largest freight handling railway system in the world, the Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

Due to the implementation of several freight revenue initiatives, the freight carried by Indian Railways has jumped by 29 per cent from 1,233 million tonnes in 2020-21 to 1,591 million tonnes during 2023-24, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told the Lok Sabha in a written reply to a question. During 2023-24, the earnings of Indian Railways (IR) were Rs 2,56,093 crore and revenue expenditure was Rs 2,52,834 crore.

The net revenue has improved to Rs 3,260 crore in 2023-24. Major expenditure is done on staff cost, pensio...