Rail network snapshot

Indian Railways says it has electrified 99.6% of its broad-gauge network as of March 2026, bringing its main lines close to full electric operation. (pib.gov.in) The railway system is now running about 25,000 trains a day, according to a Press Information Bureau explainer published on April 15, 2026. The same note said the network carried around 741 crore passengers in 2025–26. (pib.gov.in) A separate Ministry of Railways release on April 1, 2026 put the 2025–26 passenger total at 741 crore, up 3.54% from 716 crore in 2024–25. It said passenger revenue rose to about ₹80,000 crore from ₹75,500 crore a year earlier. (pib.gov.in) Broad gauge is the core of India’s rail network, and electrifying it means trains can run on overhead power instead of diesel for most mainline journeys. A Ministry of Railways release in March 2025 said about 98% of the broad-gauge network had already been electrified, with the remaining sections under way. (pib.gov.in) The government has framed the push as both an operating and energy shift. A January 2026 Press Information Bureau document said electrification had reached about 99.2% of the network by November 2025, up from 97% cited in a November 2024 release. (pib.gov.in 1) (pib.gov.in 2) The pace has accelerated sharply over the past decade. The November 2024 release said Indian Railways completed about 45,200 route-kilometres of broad-gauge electrification since 2014–15, compared with about 21,801 route-kilometres before 2014. (pib.gov.in) Indian Railways is also carrying more freight alongside that passenger load. The April 1, 2026 release said freight movement hit a record 1,670 million tonnes in 2025–26, up 3.25% from the previous year. (pib.gov.in) The network’s scale is easier to see in daily terms: more than two crore passengers a day spread across roughly 25,000 trains means Indian Railways is handling one of the world’s heaviest rail passenger flows. The latest official releases present electrification as the operating backbone for that volume. (pib.gov.in 1) (pib.gov.in 2)