South Western Railway (SWR) recorded a 16 per cent growth in gross revenue to ₹ 6939 crore during the first three quarters of FY26 according to Mukul Saran Mathur, General Manager, SWR.
In his Republic Day message on January 2026 Mathur said that SWR achieved a passenger revenue of ₹2,543 crore and freight revenue of ₹3,976 crore. Sundry revenue increased 21 per cent yoy to ₹167 crore while parcel revenue was ₹129 crore. SWR saw 18.5 per cent growth in incremental originating freight loading at 38 million tonnes (MT).
To meet festival demand, SWR operated 481 special trains and attached 614 extra coaches, generating an additional ₹232 crore in revenue, he added.
Infrastructure and Capacity Expansion
SWR commissioned 26-km of double lines, 20-km new lines and opened the 56-km Talkal – Kushtagi section during the April–December 2025 period.
SWR also received sanction for major doubling projects including Ballari–Chikjajur and Toranagallu–Ranjithpura.
Route electrification
SWR has electrified nearly 90 per cent of its network.The zone electrified 207 track kilometre (TKM) taking its total electrified network to 3,340 route kilometres (nearly 90 per cent).
Electric traction was extended to 163 pairs of trains, 48 electric locomotives were added raising the fleet to 326. Thirty pairs of trains were converted from diesel to electric traction, resulting in fuel savings of about ₹39 crore.
Passenger Services, amenities and operational efficiency
SWR operated 481 special trains, attached 614 extra coaches, increased speeds of 125 trains and introduced 10 new trains. The zone clocked 90 per cent punctuality.
SWR’s operational efficiency improved by raising sectional speed to 110 kmph over 360 TKM while speed over loop lines was increased to 30 kmph, Section speed on Hassan–Mangaluru section was increased to 80 kmph (except Sakleshpur-Subrahmanya Road ghat section).
A total of 20 permanent speed restrictions (PSR) were removed and 21 were relaxed while 240 km of track was upgraded to carry 25-tonne axle load.
Safety
SWR received sanction for KAVACH Train Collision Avoidance System over 3,692 route kilometres. Expenditure for safety related infrastructure was sanctioned for 190 works worth ₹1,107 crore were sanctioned. Of this 109 works costing ₹2,264 crore were shortlisted. This included including 11 ROB/RUB works sanctioned at ₹155 crore and another 27 ROB/RUB works shortlisted at ₹378 crore.
SWR commissioned four road-over-bridges (ROB), five road-under-bridges, (RUB) seven foot-over-bridges, one sub-way,15 high level platforms and closed five level crossing (LC) gates. Construction of 13 new ROBs have commenced while Divyangjan accessibility was implemented at 126 stations.
Sustainability
SWR commissioned 722 kWp of additional solar capacity, raising the total to 7.6 MWp, generating 48 lakh units and saving ₹3 crore. SWR’s solar capacity is likely to touch 20 MWp, saving ₹25 crore annually.
Energy savings of ₹171 crore were achieved by procurement of power via open access at 36 traction substations, while locomotives with HOG (head-on-generation) hauling 116 trains saved 16,762 kilo litres of diesel worth ₹124 crore.
