East Coast Railway’s (ECoR), loaded 222 million tonnes (MT) and unloaded 199 MT of freight this financial year. This was outlined by Parmeshwar Funkwal, General Manager ECoR in his Republic Day message delivered on January 26, 2026.
“By loading 200 Million tonnes of freight in 263 days, East Coast Railway has scripted fastest ever loading in history and in 27 days earlier than last year,” he said.
Loading and Income
ECoR’s gross revenue from freight loading in the first three quarters stood at ₹18,920.57 crore through December 2025, up 9.21 per cent year-on-year (yoy).
ECoR conveyed 73.13 million passengers, up 5.74 per cent yoy while passenger earnings rose 6.87 per cent yoy to ₹1,865.34 crores, up 6.87 per cent. ECoR’s Operating Ratio (cost to income ratio) for FY26 was maintained at 58.20 per cent.
Project Updates
Capital expenditure utilization as on date was 91.63 per cent of budget allocated at ₹9,659.39 crore. In FY26, ECoR commissioned several multi-tracking projects including :
• Koraput-Suku (11.16 km), Darliput-Padua section (9.77 km)
• Hindol Road-Meramundali section (26.82 km)
• Jajpur Keonjhar Road-Baitarani Road section (11.63 km)
• Parvatipuram-Sitanagaram-Bobbili-Donkinavalasa section (36.06 km)
In addition, engine rolling operations have commenced on 24.71 km across three sections: Talcher-Talcher Road (6.5 km), Manabar-Jarati (9.21 km), and Karakavalasa-Shimiliguda (9 km). ECoR did 160.49 track km of route electrification as on December 2025.
Yards and Buildings
ECoR commissioned six station yards including Sambalpur, Donkinavalasa, Bobbili, Sitanagaram, Parvatipuram, and Rajathagarh facilitating improved traffic flow and logistics capabilities. Modern station buildings at Baitarani Road and Meramandali were built .
Tunnels
ECoR achieved breakthrough completions in several tunnels across ongoing projects. Among these, T-4 tunnel (4,183 m) in the Adenigarh-Charichhak section—the longest railway tunnel in ECoR’s jurisdiction, T-2 tunnel (1,775 m) in the Daspalla-Buguda section, both part of the Khurda Road-Balangir new line project and T-35 tunnel (628 m) in the Sikarpai-Keutiguda section of the Koraput-Singapur Road doubling project were done.
New projects sanctioned
Important new projects sanctioned include third and fourth lines between Jharsuguda-Sasan, Sambalpur City-Jarapada and 4th line between Ranital Junction Cabin and Bhadrak station. A rail flyover at Cuttack has been sanctioned to improve traffic mobility.
Safety
ECoR earmarked 170 road-over-bridge (ROB) under special railway projects. Land acquisition under the Special Act is underway. Two ROBs on the Talcher-Bimalagarh new line project have been completed during this period.
Automatic signalling spanning 72.91 RKM has been commissioned. Besides, 19 level crossing (LC) gates have been interlocked and five closed after construction of limited height subways (LHS). ECoR has installed sliding booms at 29 LC gates, and voice logger phones at all non-interlocked LC gates.
ECoR commissioned electronic interlocking systems (EI) at nine stations while 31 modifications to existing EI / PI (panel interlocking) stations was done besides deploying 10 Hot Axle Box Detectors across the zone.
ECoR did 356 track kilometre (TKM) of Through Rail Renewals, 446 TKM of Through Sleeper Renewals and rehabilitation of 160 bridges. Besides, ultrasonic testing of 21,265 km of track was done to identify and address rail and weld defects.
ECoR relaxed Permanent Speed Restrictions (PSR) at 15 locations while increasing sectional speeds across 13 sections spanning 310.24 route kilometres (RKM).
Passenger convenience and amenities
ECoR operated 1,523 special trains to meet peak season demand, augmented 200 mail/express trains with 4,050 additional coaches, while permanently adding 19 coaches to its fleet. ECoR ran 368 Rath Yatra special trains carrying over 4.91 lakh devotees in this year’s Rath Yatra festival .
Three new express trains – Boudh-Bhubaneswar-Boudh Express, Sambalpur-Boudh-Sambalpur Express, and Brahmapur-Udhna-Brahmapur Amrit Bharat Express were introduced.
This fiscal to date, ECoR provided coach position indicators at 10 stations, train indicator boards at seven stations, digital clocks at 11 stations, upgraded waiting halls at 10 stations, enhanced circulating areas at 11 stations, and additional platform shelters at 26 stations.
Ramps for Divyangjan passengers were installed at 18 stations, platform raising completed at 63 stations while foot-over-bridges (FOB) and lifts constructed at 9 stations each.
Finally, a new passenger halt at Taraboi between Khurda Road and Khurda Town stations was inaugurated on the Khurda Road-Balangir new rail line,
