Mumbai: Western Railway’s suburban passenger earnings rose to Rs 873 crore in FY 2025–26, up from Rs 840 crore in the previous financial year, registering a growth of nearly 4% year-on-year, even as average daily ridership remains below pre-Covid levels.WR’s suburban originating passenger count crossed 110.4 crore this financial year, compared with 107.98 crore last year, marking a 2.43% rise.Railway data show that the network is currently handling an average of 29.52 lakh suburban passengers daily, lower than the pre-Covid daily average of 34.87 lakh. However, the daily average suburban revenue has risen to Rs 2.39 crore, surpassing the pre-pandemic average of Rs 2.12 crore.Officials attributed the stronger earnings to the rapid rise in AC local usage. Before the pandemic, AC EMU services carried an average of 20,000 passengers daily and generated Rs 7.74 lakh in daily revenue. The growth momentum continued this year, with March 2026 recording the highest-ever monthly AC EMU revenue of Rs 24.57 crore, surpassing the previous record of Rs 21.83 crore set in Oct 2025.AC EMU ridership also touched a new peak, with 53.97 lakh passengers in March 2026, higher than the earlier record of 46.6 lakh in June 2025.The figures underline how WR has improved its per-passenger revenue realisation, with premium suburban services now playing a much larger role in earnings growth, helping revenue recovery outpace ridership recovery on the western suburban network.
