Southern Railway numbers

Southern Railway says it expanded service sharply in 2025-26, adding 28 new train pairs and lifting punctuality to 93.22%. (thehindubusinessline.com) The zone said 98 trains were sped up during the year, cutting journey times, and 246 new stoppages were added across stations in southern India. It also extended five train pairs and one single-direction service, and increased the frequency of four train pairs. (thehindubusinessline.com) Southern Railway said the 28 new train pairs were its highest addition in 10 years. The list included the KSR Bengaluru-Ernakulam Vande Bharat Express, 10 Amrit Bharat train pairs, 12 Mail and Express pairs, and seven Passenger and Mainline Electric Multiple Unit services. (thehindubusinessline.com) On ticketing, the zone said 53.64% of its unreserved transactions were digital, the highest share among Indian Railways zones. Of Rs 2,100.28 crore sold through unreserved counters, Rs 1,125.71 crore came through digital payments and Rs 974.57 crore in cash. (newindianexpress.com) In reserved ticketing, Southern Railway ranked second with 33% of payments made digitally, or Rs 324 crore out of Rs 986 crore. The New Indian Express report said the national average for digital payments across Indian Railways was 21%, and South East Central Railway led the reserved segment at 38%. (newindianexpress.com) The operating gains came as Southern Railway carried 76.76 crore passengers in 2025-26, up 4.9% from 73.18 crore a year earlier. Passenger revenue rose 9.7% to Rs 8,269 crore, above the Railway Board target of Rs 8,119 crore. (newindianexpress.com) Southern Railway attributed that growth to extra special trains, late-stage booking of vacant seats up to 15 minutes before departure at intermediate stations, and 294 added general second-class coaches across 198 trains. Ticket-checking revenue reached Rs 160.75 crore, up 30.93% from Rs 129.82 crore in the previous year. (newindianexpress.com) Some of the expansion was visible earlier in March, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off six new trains in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, including Nagercoil-Charlapalli Amrit Bharat and Pollachi-Palakkad Mainline Electric Multiple Unit services. Commercial runs for those services began between March 12 and March 21. (thehindubusinessline.com) Southern Railway’s own press-release page lists April 15 statements on both its passenger-service performance and its broader 2025-26 results. The numbers point to the same pattern: more trains, faster runs, and more ticket payments moving from cash to phones and cards. (sr.indianrailways.gov.in)